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BS  500  .B853 

Briggs,  Charles  Augustus 

Biblical  study 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


BIBLICAL   STUDY 


ITS    PRINCIPLES     METPIODS    AND     HISTORY 


TOGETHER  WITH   A 


CATALOGUE  OF  BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE 


BY 

CHARLES  AUGUSTUS' BRIGGS   D.D. 

DAVENPORT    PROFESSOR    OF    HEBREW  AND  THE    COGNATE   LANGUAGES    IN  THE 
UNION  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY   NEW  YORK   CITY 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

1883. 


COPYRIGHT,    1883,    BY 
CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS. 


EDWARD  O.  JENKINS, 

Printer  and  Stereotyfer^ 

20  North  William  St.,  New  York. 


^ 


TO 

ROSWELL    D.    HITCHCOCK,    D.D.,  LL.D., 

PRESIDENT    OF    THE    UNION    THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY,    NEW    YORK,    AND 
WASHBURN   PROFESSOR  OF  CHURCH    HISTORY  IN  THE   SAME, 

AND  TO 

ISAAC    A.    DORNER,    D.D., 

PROFESSOR     OF     THEOLOGY     IN     THE     UNIVERSITY    OF     BERLIN: 
THE   SURVIVORS  OF  TWO    NOBLE   FACULTIES, 

TO     WHOM     THE    AUTHOR    OWES    HIS    THEOLOGICAL 

TRAINING, 


^his  Boob 


IS   DEDICATED  AS  A  TOKEN  OF  GRATITUDE  AND  AFFECTION. 


PREFACE. 


This  work  is  the  product  of  the  author's  experience 
as  a  student  of  the  Bible,  and  a  teacher  of  theological 
students  in  Biblical  Study.  From  time  to  time,  during 
the  past  fourteen  years,  he  has  been  called  upon  to  give 
special  attention  to  particular  themes  in  public  addresses 
and  review  articles.  In  this  way  the  ground  of  Biblical 
Study  has  been  quite  well  covered.  This  scattered  ma- 
terial has  been  gathered,  and  worked  over  into  an  or- 
ganic system. 

The  following  articles  and  addresses  have  been  freely 
used  wherever  the  material  contained  in  them  seemed 
appropriate:  (i)  Two  articles  on  Biblical  Theology  in 
the  American  Presbyterian  Review,  1870,  pp.  105  seq., 
293,  scq.  (2)  An  inaugural  address  on  Exegetical  The- 
ology on  the  author's  induction  into  the  chair  of  He- 
brew and  Cognate  Languages  in  the  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  New  York,  October,  1 876 ;  published  in  the 
Presbyterian  Quarterly  and  Princeton  Review,  1877,  p.  5, 
seq.  (3)  An  address  before  the  Sunday-school  Teach- 
ers' Association  of  New  York  on  the  Languages  of  the 
Bible,  in  the  autumn  of  1876,  which  was  published  in 
the  volume  God''s  Word  Mart's  Light  and  Guide,  New 
York,  1877,  p.  37,  seq.  (4)  An  article  in  the  Presbyte- 
rian Review,  1881,  p.  551,  seq.,  on  the  Right,  Duty, 
and  Limits  of  Biblical  Criticism.  (5)  Two  articles  in  the 
Homiletical  Quarterly,  London,  1881,  pp.  398,  seq.,  and 
535,  seq.,  on  Hebrezv  Poetry.     (6)  An  article  in  the  Pres- 

(vii) 


yl\[  PREFACE. 

byteriayi  Review,  1882,  p.  503,  seq.,  on  Biblical  Theology. 
{7)  An  article  in  the  Hebrew  Student,  1882,  p.  65,  seq., 
on  the  Literary  Study  of  the  Bible.  (8)  An  article  in  the 
Presbyterian  Review,  1883,  p.  69,  seq.,  on  the  Critical 
Study  of  the  Higher  Criticism,  with  special  reference  to 
the  Pentateuch.  (9)  An  address  upon  the  Scriptures  as 
a  Means  of  Grace,  delivered  before  the  Sunday-school 
Convention  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  in  the 
winter  of  1882,  and  then  enlarged  and  delivered  before 
the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Reformed  Church,  at 
Lancaster,  Pa.,  in  May,  1883.  (10)  An  address  before 
the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  at  the 
opening  of  the  term,  September  20,  1883,  on  the  Inter- 
pretatioft  of  Scripture.  This  material  hasbeen  used  by 
the  author  when  it  suited  his  purpose,  but  it  will  be 
found  that  the  additional  matter  is  far  greater  than 
that  already  given  to  the  public  in  these  scattered 
pieces,  and  that  the  book  is  a  complete  and  symmetrical 
whole. 

The  author  has  aimed  to  present  a  guide  to  Bib- 
lical Study  for  the  intelligent  layman,  as  well  as  the 
theological  student  and  minister  of  the  Gospel.  It  is 
his  conviction  that  the  scientific  study  of  the  Word  of 
God  should  be  combined  with  a  devout  use  of  it.  Piety 
and  scholarship  must  be  wedded  in  order  to  the  best 
results.  It  is  a  misfortune  that  they  should  ever  be 
divorced. 

A  great  revival  of  Biblical  Study  is  now  in  progress 
in  Great  Britain  and  America.  It  is  all-important  that 
this  revival  should  be  guided  in  the  right  direction. 
Scholasticism  and  Rationalism  are  alike  perilous. 
Scholasticism  is  largely  responsible  for  the  neglect  of  a 
scholarly  study  of  the  Scriptures  for  a  century  in  Eng- 
lish-speaking lands.     (See  pp.   123,  seq.,  145,  seq.,  149, 


PREFACE.  ix 

seq.,  206,  seq.,  209,  seq.,  345-346,  373»  -^^^O  It  is  chiefly 
responsible  for  the  reaction  into  the  other  extreme  of 
Rationalism.  As  Scholasticism  is  the  chief  provocative 
to  Rationalism,  it  can  never  by  any  possibility  overcome 
it.  The  evangelical  spirit  of  the  Biblical  authors,  the  vital 
and  experimental  religion  of  the  Reformers  and  Puritan 
fathers  is  the  only  force  that  will  be  at  all  effective.  It 
is  necessary  that  we  should  react  to  their  principles  and 
methods,  and  build  upon  them.  True  progress  in  the- 
ology is  to  be  found  in  the  working  out  of  the  principles 
of  the  Reformation  and  of  Puritanism,  in  carrying  them 
on  to  higher  and  grander  results.  These  principles 
have  been  neglected  by  British  and  American  theo- 
logians of  the  past  century.  It  has  been  a  constant  aim 
in  this  book  to  call  attention  to  these  principles  and  to 
the  methods  of  Biblical  Study  based  upon  them,  and  to 
explain  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible  in  the  chief  Puritan 
symbol,  the  Westminster  Confession,  by  citations  from 
its  authors  and  their  forerunners.  (See  pp.  114,  seq.,  167, 
s^'q-,  335,  seq.,  iji,  seq) 

At  the  same  time  a  sketch  of  the  entire  history  of 
each  department  of  Biblical  Study  has  been  given,  the 
stages  of  its  development  are  traced,  the  normal  is 
discriminated  from  the  abnormal,  and  the  whole  is 
rooted  in  the  methods  of  Christ  and  His  apostles. 

The  Literature  of  Biblical  Study  has  been  considered 
in  its  appropriate  places  in  the  system.  But  it  has  been 
deemed  best  to  present  a  catalogue  of  a  reference  libra- 
ry for  Biblical  Study  by  itself  at  the  end  of  the  work. 
The  labor  that  has  been  expended  upon  this  part  of  the 
book  will  be  appreciated  by  those  who  have  had  ex- 
perience in  Bibliography.  These  will  be  ready  to  excuse 
any  defects  or  errors  that  may  have  arisen  from  inadver- 
tence or  lack  of  material. 


3^  PREFACE. 

The  ground  of  Biblical  Study  has  been  covered,  with 
the  exception  of  Biblical  History.  This  department  has 
been  included  in  the  Reference  Library  because  it 
seemed  necessary  for  completeness.  It  has  been  omit- 
ted from  the  discussions  because  it  is  usual  to  classify 
Biblical  History  with  Historical  Theology.  The  author 
did  not  care  to  determine  this  disputed  question  in  a 
work  already  sufificiently  extensive. 

In  the  use  of  Scripture  the  freedom  which  charac- 
terizes the  Biblical  authors,  the  fathers,  the  reformers, 
and  the  Puritan  sires  has  been  followed.  The  A.  V. 
and  R.  V.  have  been  quoted,  or  modified,  or  a  new  trans- 
lation from  the  originals  has  been  given,  just  as  it  suited 
the  author's  purpose  at  the  time.  He  has  been  con- 
cerned chiefly  to  give  the  sense  of  the  originals  of  divine 
revelation. 

The  three  indexes  have  been  prepared  by  the  author's 
pupil  and  friend.  Rev.  Charles  R.  Gillett,  A.M.,  the 
librarian  of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York, 
to  whom  he  would  express  his  thanks  for  the  great 
pains  taken  in  the  work. 

With  an  implicit  faith  in  the  God  of  the  Bible,  and 
the  power  of  grace  contained  in  the  holy  Word ;  and 
with  an  unwavering  recognition,  of  the  supreme  excel- 
lence of  the  written  Word,  as  the  mirror  of  the  eter- 
nal Logos ;  and  with  an  entire  submission  to  its  author- 
ity as  supreme  over  all  doctrines  of  men  and  ecclesi- 
astical decisions,  this  Biblical  Study  is  submitted  to  the 
judgment  of  the  intelligent  reader. 


..        -^  -^  J  Cr   '•   ^-^ 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Advantages  of  Biblical  Study,  p.  i. 

Biblical  Study  the  most  important,  p.  i  ;  the  most  extensive,  p.  I  ; 
the  most  profound,  p.  2;  the  most  attractive,  p.  3,  of  all  studies. 

CHAPTER    n. 
Exegetical  Theology,  p.  10. 

Exegetical  Theology  the  most  general  terra  for  Biblical  Study,  p.  10. 

I.  Biblical  Literature,  p.  17  :  (i)  Biblical  Canonics,  p.  21  ;  (2) 
Textual  Criticism,  p.  22  ;  (3)  The  Higher  Criticism,  p.  24.  II. 
Biblical  Exegesis,  p.  27.     III.  Biblical  Theology,  p.  37. 

•  CHAPTER   III. 

The  Languages  of  the  Bible,  p.  42. 

The  languages  of  the  Bible  the  most  suitable  for  decJat-ing  the  divine 
revelation  to  mankind,  p.  42.     I.  The  Hebrew  Language,  p.  46. 

II.  The  Aramaic  Language,  p.  59.  III.  The  Greek  Language, 
p.  63. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Bible  and  Criticism,  p.  75. 

The  necessity  of  criticism  to  determine  the  true  canon,  text,  and  char- 
acter of  the  various  writings  of  the  Bible,  p.  75.  I.  What  is 
Criticism  ?  p.  78.  II.  Principles  of  Criticism,  p.  82  :  derived 
(i)  from  General  Criticism,  p.  82;  (2)  from  Historical  Criticism, 
P-  83 ;  (3)  from  Criticism  of  the  text,  p.  85 ;  (4)  from  Higher 
Criticism,  p.  86;  questions  to  be  determined  by  Higher  Criti- 
cism, p.  87  ;  principles  of  Higher  Criticism,  p.  88 ;  illustrations, 

(xi) 


xii  CONTENTS. 

p.  92.  III.  Criticism  of  the  Bible,  p.  94;  confronted  by  tradi- 
tional views,  p.  95  ;  based  on  the  principles  of  the  Reformation, 

p.  lOI. 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Canon  of  Scripture,  p.  105, 

No  official  determination  of  the  Canon  in  the  ancient  Church,  p.  105. 

I.  The  Canon  of  the  Reformers^  p.  106.  The  Reformation  prin- 
ciple of  determining  the  Canon,  p.  107 ;  its  abandonment  by  the 
scholastics,  p.  113.  11.  The  Puritan  Canon,  p.  114  :  The  Puri- 
tan principle  discriminated  from  the  Anglican,  p.  114  ;  the  Puri- 
tan mystic,  p.  119;  abandonment  of  the  Puritan  principle,  p. 
124,  III.  Criticism  of  the  Canon,  p.  125.  The  LXX  and  the 
Canon  of  the  Oi  T.,  p.  126.  The  men  of  the  great  synagogue,  p. 
127.  Evidence  from  Philo  and  Josephus,  p.  128  ;  The  N.  T. 
determination  of  the  O.  T.  Canon,  p.  131  ;  The  N.  T.  Canon  in 
the  early  church,  p.  132.  The  Protestant  Canon,  p.  133.  The 
principles  for  determining  the  Canon,  p.  136. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Text  of  the  Bible,  p.  139. 

I.  Textual  Criticism  in  the  Sixteenth  Century,  p.  140 ;  of  the  Re- 
formers, p.  140;  of  the  Scholastics,  p.  141.  II.  Textual  Criti- 
cism in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  p.  142  :  Cappellus  and  Bux- 
torf,  p.  143  ;  Walton  and  Owen,  p.  144.  III.  Textual  Criticism 
in  the  Eighteenth  a7td  Nineteenth  Centuries,  p.  148  :  New  Test. 
Criticism,  p.  148  ;  Old  Test.  Criticism,  p.  149.  IV.  The  Text  of 
the  Old  Testament,  p.  151  :  The  Vowel  points  and  accents,  p.  151 ; 
the  letters,  p.  153;  the  versions,  p.  153.  V.  Textual  Criticism 
and  Inspiration,  p.  1 56 :  Verbal  inspiration  rejected,  p.  156; 
the  external  word  instrumental,  p.  158;  the  internal  word 
inspired,  p.  161. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Higher  Criticism,  p.  164. 

I.  The  Higher  Criticism  in  the  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Centu- 
ries, p.  165  :  The  freedom  of  the  Reformers  and  Puritans,  p.  165. 
The  new  questions  opened  in  the  Eighteenth  Centurj',  p.  169. 

II.  Criticism  of  the  Traditional  Theories,  p.   171  :  The  true 


CONTENTS.  Xiii 

method  and  its  defence,  p.  171.  III.  The  Rabbinical  Theories,  p. 
173,  IV.  Hellenistic  and  Christian  Theories,  p.  180,  V.  The 
New  Testament  View  of  the  Old  Testament  Literature,^.  184. 
VI.  The  Rise  of  the  Higher  Criticism,  p.  196:  Spinoza  and 
Simon,  p.  197;  Astruc,  Lovvth,  and  Herder,  p.  202;  Eichhorn, 
p.  203.  VII.  The  Higher  Criticism  in  the  Nineteenth  Cent- 
ury, p.  207. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Literary  Study  of  the  Bible,  p.  214. 

I.  The  Integrity  of  the  Scriptures,  p.  216.  II.  The  Authenticity  of 
the  Scriptures,  p.  220  :  (l)  Anonymes,  p.  222  ;  (2)  Pseudonymes, 
p.  223  ;  (3)  Compilations,  p.  226.  III.  Literary  forms  of  the 
Scriptures,  p.  228  :  (i)  History,  p.  230;  (2)  the  Oration,  p.  234; 
(3)  the  Epistle,  p.  237  ;  (4)  Fiction,  p.  238.  IV.  Credibility  of 
the  Scriptures,  p.  240  :  Inerrancy  not  a  Protestant  doctrine,  p. 
241.  Higher  Criticism  strengthens  the  credibihty  of  Scripture, 
p.  244. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Hebrew  Poetry,  p.  248. 

The  Hebrews  a  remarkably  poetic  people,  p.  248.  I.  Characteris- 
tics of  Hebrew  Poetry,  p.  250.  II.  Forms  of  Hebrew  Poetry,  p. 
255.  III.  Parallelism  of  members,  p.  272.  IV.  The  Strophe, 
p.  272.  V.  Measurement  by  Words  or  Accents,  p.  279.  VI. 
Poetic  Language,  p.  283.  Yll.  Kinds  of  Hebrew  Poetry,  p. 
284 :  (i)  Lyric,  p.  284 ;  (2)  Gnomic,  p.  285  ;  (3)  Composite,  p. 
288. 

CHAPTER  X.    ■ 

The  Interpretation  of  Scripture,  p.  296. 

The  Word  of  God  at  first  oral,  p.  296  ;  the  interpretation  of  writings, 
p.  297.  I.  Rabbinical  interpretation,  p.  299:  Rules  of  the  Ha- 
lacha  and  Haggada,  p.  301  ;  the  Sodh,  p.  302  ;  the  Peshat,  p. 
303.  II.  Hellenistic  Interpretation,  p.  305:  Rules  of  allegory, 
p.  306.  III.  Interpretation,  of  Scripture  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, p.  307  ;  Jesus'  use  of  the  Rabbinical  and  Hellenistic  meth- 
ods, p.  309  ;  the  distinguishing  features  of  Jesus'  method,  p.  311  ; 
the  apostolic  use  of  Haggada,  Halacha,  and  Allegory,  p.  315  ; 
the  distinguishing  features  of  apostolic  interpretation,  p.  319. 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

IV.  Interpretation  of  the  Fathers  and  Schoolmen,  p.  320  :  The 
churchly  tendency,  p.  321  ;  the  allegorical  tendency,  p.  322  ;  the 
Antiochan  school,  p.  325  ;  the  traditional  interpretation  of  the 
middle  age,  p.  328.  V.  The  Interpretation  of  the  Reformers  and 
their  Successors,  p.  331 ;  The  Humanists,  p.  331  ;  the  reforma- 
tion principle  of  interpreting  Scripture  by  Scripture,  p.  332  ;  the 
scholastic  rule  of  faith,  p.  333.  VI.  The  Interpretation  of  the 
Puritans  and  Arminians,  p.  335  :  The  Puritan  principle  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  Scripture,  p.  336  ;  Puritan  practical  interpreta- 
tion, p.  340;  Puritan  doctrine  of  the  Covenants,  p.  342;  the 
Federalists  and  Pietists,  p.  343 ;  the  Arminian  historical  inter- 
pretation, p.  345.  Vn.  Biblical  Interpretation  of  Modern 
Times,  p.  346 :  The  grammatico-historical  method  of  Ernesti, 
Semler,  and  Keil,  p.  347 ;  the  older  Tiibingen  school,  p.  348 ; 
the  organic  method  of  the  school  of  Schleiermacher,  p.  349 ; 
the  interpretation  of  the  history  of  redemption,  p.  351.  VHI. 
Method  of  Biblical  Interpretation,  p.  351  :  (i)  Grammatical,  p. 
352  ;  (2)  Logical  and  Rhetorical,  p.  353  ;  (3)  Historical,  p.  357  ; 
(4)  Comparative,  p.  358;  (5)  Use  of  the  literature  of  interpreta- 
tion, p.  360 ;  (6)  Doctrinal  interpretation,  p.  361 ;  (7)  Practical, 

P-  363- 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Biblical  Theology,  p.  367. 

I.  The  Four  types  of  Theology,  p.  367  :  The  mystic,  p.  368  ;  scho- 
lastic, p.  369;  speculative,  p.  369;  evangelical,  p.  370  ;  their  his- 
toric struggles,  p.  371.  II,  The  Rise  of  Biblical  Theology,  p. 
374:  Zachariah  and  Ammon,  p.  374;  Gabler,  p.  375  ;  DeWette 
and  Von  Coin,  p.  376.  III.  Development  of  Biblical  Theology, 
p.  377 :  The  Tubingen  school  and  the  school  of  Neander,  p. 
377 ;  Reuss,  Kuenen,  and  Wellhausen,  p,  386 ;  the  present 
problems,  p.  389.  IV.  Position  and  importance  of  Biblical 
Theology,  p.  390  :  (i)  The  idea  of  Biblical  Theology,  p.  390  ;  (2) 
Place  of  Biblical  Theology,  p.  397  ;  (3)  Method,  p.  399 ;  (4)  Sys- 
tem and  Divisions,  p.  401  ;  Unity  and  variety  of  the  Bible,  p.  404. 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Scriptures  as  a  Means  of  Grace,  p.  406. 
The  principles  of  the  Reformation,  p.  406.     I.  The  Gospel  in  the 
Scriptures,  p.  407,     II.   The  Grace  of  God  in  the  Scriptures, 


CONTENTS.  XV 

p.  410:  (i)  They  contain  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  p. 
411  ;  (2)  The  grace  of  redemption  from  sin  to  holiness,  p.  412; 
(^0  The  grace  of  regeneration,  p.  413  I  (<^)  The  grace  of  sancti- 
fication,  p.  414.  III.  The  efficacy  of  the  Scriptures,  p.  416.  IV. 
The  appropriation  of  the  grace  of  the  Scriptures,  p.  41?:  (0 
By  prayerful  attention,  p.  418;  (2)  by  appropriating  faith,  p. 
423;  (3)  by  practicing  faith,  p.  426. 


A   CATALOGUE 

OF  BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY,  p.  429. 

I.  Biblical  Study  in  Getieral,  p.  429.  II.  The  Languages  of  the 
Bible  and  Cognates,  p.  430  ;  Hebrew,  p.  430;  Aramaic,  p.  432  ; 
Arabic  and  .^thiopic,  p.  433';  Phoenician  and  Samaritan,  p. 
434;  Assyrian  and  Babylonian,  p.  435;  Greek,  p.  435;  III. 
Canon  of  Scripture,  p.  4^7.  IV.  Text  of  Scripture,  p.  438  ; 
Originals  and  Versions,  p.  438;  Concordances,  p.  441  ;  Textual 
•  Criticism  of  the  Old  Testament,  p.  442;  Textual  Criticism  of 
tlie  New  Testament,  p.  448.  V.  The  Higher  Criticism,  p.  444  ; 
of  the  Old  Testament,  p.  444  ;  of  the  New  Testament,  p.  446. 
VI.  Interpretation  of  Scripture,  p.  447  ;  (i)  Hermeneutics,  p. 
447;  (2)  Commentaries  on  the  whole  Bible,  p.  449;  on  the 
Old  Testament,  p.  453  ;  on  the  New  Testament,  p.  460.  VII. 
Biblical  History,  p.  468  ;  Biblical  Geography  and  Natural  His- 
tory, p.  468  ;  Old  Testament  History,  p.  470 ;  History  of  the 
Jews  and  their  surroundings  during  the  Greek  and  Roman  pe- 
riods, p.  474;  New  Testament  History,  p.  476.  YWl.  Biblical 
Theology,  p.  480  :  of  the  whole  Bible,  p.  480 ;  of  the  Old 
Testament,  p.  481  :  Theology  of  the  Jews  during  the  Greek  and 
Roman  periods,  p.  484 ;  New  Testament  Theology,  p.  486. 


INDEXES. 

I.    Texts  of  Scripture,  p.  489.     II.    Topics,  p.  493.     III.  Books  and 
Authors,  p.  499. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Biblical  study  is  the  most  important  of  all  studies, 
for  it  is  a  study  of  the  Word  of  God,  which  contains  a 
divine  revelation  of  redemption  to  the  world.  Nowhere 
else  can  such  a  redemption  be  found  save  where  it  has 
been  derived  from  this  fountain  source  or  from  those 
sacred  persons,  institutions,  and  events  presented  to  us 
in  the  Bible.  The  Bible  is  the  chief  source  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  Christian  theology,  and  Christian  life. 
While  other  secondary  and  subsidiary  sources  may  be 
used  to  advantage  in  connection  with  this  principal 
source,  they  cannot  dispense  with  it.  For  the  Bible 
contains  the  revelation  of  redemption  ;  the  Messiah  and 
His  kingdom  are  the  central  theme ;  its  varying  contents 
lead  by  myriads  of  paths  in  converging  lines  to  the 
throne  of  the  God  of  grace.  The  Bible  is  the  sure  way 
of  life,  wisdom,  and  blessedness. 

/  Biblical  study  is  the  most  extensive  of  all  studies, 
for  its  themes  are  the  central  themes  which  are  inextri- 
cably entwined  in  all  knowledge.  Into  its  channels  every 
other  study  pours  its  supply  as  all  the  brooks  and  rivers 
flow  into  the  ocean.  The  study  of  the  Bible  is  a  study 
for  men  of  every  class  and  occupation  in  life,  for  all  the 
world.  No  profound  scholar  in  any  department  of  in- 
vestigation can  avoid  the  Bible.'    Sooner  or  later  his 


2  •  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

special  studies  will  lead  him  thither.  The  Bible  is  an 
ocean  of  heavenly  wisdom.  The  little  child  may  sport 
upon  its  shores  and  derive  instruction  and  delight.  The 
most  accomplished  scholar  finds  its  vast  extent  and  mys- 

l     terious  depths  beyond  his  grasp. 

We  open  the  Bible  and  on  its  earliest  pages  are  con- 
fronted with  the  origin  of  the  world,  the  creation  of 
man,  the  problem  of  evil.  Its  historie's  present,  in  brief 
yet  impressive  outlines,  the  struggle  of  good  and  evil, 
the  strife  of  tribes  and  nations,  arid,  above  all,  the  inter- 
play of  divine  and  human  forces,  showing  that  a  divine 
plan  of  the  world  is  unfolding.  The  springs  of  human 
action,  the  secrets  of  human  experience  and  motive  are 
disclosed  in  the  measures  of  psalm  and  proverb.  The 
character,  attributes,  and  purposes  of  God  are  unveiled 
in  the  strains  of  holy  prophets.  The  union  of  God  and 
man  in  redemption  is  more  and  more  displayed  in  the 
progress  of  its  literature.  Two  great  covenants  divide 
the  plan  of  redemption  into  two  stages,  the  old  cove- 
nant and  the  ne^^.  The  former  presents  us  instructions 
which  are  a  marvel  of  righteousness,  holiness,  and  grace ; 
institutions  that  are  symmetrical  and  grand,  combining, 
as  nowhere  else,  the  real  and  the  ideal, — the  light  and 
guide  to  Israel  bearing  on  to  the  new  covenant.  In  the 
latter  the  Messiah  presents  His  achievements  of  redemp- 
tion in  which  are  stored  up  the  forces  which  have  shaped 
the  Christian  centuries  and  the  secrets  of  the  everlasting 
future.  All  the  sciences  and  arts,  all  the  literatures, 
histories,  and  religions  of  the  world  gather  about  the 
Bible  to  contribute  to  its  study  and  derive  help  from  its 
revelations. 

f  Biblical  study  is  the  most  profound  of  all  studies,  for 
it  has  to  do  with  the  secrets  of  life  and  death,  of  God 
and  man,  of  this 'world  and  other  worlds.     Its  chief  con- 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  3 

tents  are  divine  revelations.  These  were  revealed  be- 
cause man  could  not  attain  them  otherwise.  Even  those 
contents  of  the  Bible  that  are  not  revealed  are  colored 
and  shaped  by  the  revelations  with  which  they  are  con- 
nected. All  study  which  goes  beyond  the  surface  soon 
reaches  the  mysterious.  There  are  many  mysteries  that 
patient  and  persistent  investigation  has  solved,  is  solv- 
ing, or  may  be  able  to  solve.  But  the  mysteries  revealed 
in  the  Bible  are  those  which  man  has  not  been  able  to 
attain  by  inductive  and  deductive  investigation.  When 
the  study  of  the  other  departments  of  human  learning 
has  reached  their  uttermost  limits,  there  still  remains  a 
gulf  between  those  limits  and  the  contents  of  divine 
revelation.  Divine  revelation  is  to  the  other  depart- 
ments of  human  knowledge  what  heaven  is  to  earth.  It 
is  above  them,  it  encircles  them — it  envelops  them  on 
every  side.  Like  heaven,  it  discloses  vast  heights. 
Those  things  which  are  revealed  lift  the  student  of  the 
Bible  to  regions  of  knowledge  that  reach  forth  to  the  in- 
finite. And  yet  profound  as  the  divine rf^evelation  is,  it  is 
simple.  It  is  like  the  sunlight  bearing  its  own  evidence 
in  itself.  It  is  like  the  blue  vault  of  heaven  clear  and 
bright.  It  is  a  revelation  for  babes  as  well  as  men,  for 
the  simple  as  well  as  the  learned.  The  most  profound 
study  cannot  master  it.  Any  attentive  study  of  it  is 
rewarded  with  precious  knowledge. 

Biblical  study  is  the  most  attractive  of  all  studies.  '! 
The  variety  of  topic,  richness  of  material,  beauty  of 
form,  wealth  of  illustration,  the  vast  importance  of  its 
themes,  the  unity  in  which  the  amazing  variety  of  au- 
thor, age,  and  topic  is  bound  together — all  make  the  Bible 
the  most  interesting  and  absorbing  study  for  peasant  and  j 
prince,  for  child  and  sage,  for  all  the  world.     .  " 

If  this  is  not  the  actual  experience  of  all  mankind,  it 


4  *  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

is  not  the  fault  of  the  Bible,  but  of  the  religious  teachers 
who  have  obtruded  their  traditions  and  theories  upon 
the  Bible  as  the  Pharisees  did  in  the  time  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  (Matt.  xv.  6  ;  Col.  ii.  8).  The  people  and  learned 
men  have  been  too  often  driven  from  the  Bible  by  Prot- 
estant ministers  as^  well  as  Roman  Catholic  priests. 

The  Bible  has  been  hedged  about  with  awe  as  if  the 
use  of  it,  except  in  solemn  circumstances  and  with  de- 
votional feelings,  was  a  sin  against  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Men  have  been  kept  from  the  Bible  as  from  the  sacra- 
ments by  dread  of  the  serious  consequences  involved  in 
their  use.  The  Bible  has  been  made  an  unnatural  and 
unreal  book,  by  attaching  it  exclusively  to  hours  of  de- 
votion and  detaching  it  from  the  experiences  of  ordinary 
life. )  The  study  of  the  Bible  will  inevitably  lead  to  holy 
and  devout  thoughts,  will  bring  the  student  to  the  pres- 
ence of  God  and  His  Christ — but  it  is  a  sad  mistake  to 
suppose  that  the  Bible  can  be  approached  only  in  spe- 
cial frames  of  mind  and  with  peculiar  preparation.  It 
is  not  to  be  covered  as  with  a  funereal  pall  and  laid  away 
for  hours  of  sorrow  and  affliction.  It  is  not  to  be  re- 
garded with  feelings  of  bibliolatry,  which  are  as  perni- 
cious as  the  adoration  of  the  sacrament.  It  is  not  to 
be  used  as  a  book  of  magic,  as  if  it  had  the  mysterious 
power  of  determining  all  questions  at  the  opening  of  the 
book.  It  is  not  to  be  used  as  an  astrologer's  horoscope 
to  determine  from  its  words  and  letters,  the  structure  of 
its  sentences,  and  its  wondrous  symbolism,  through  seem- 
ing coincidences,  the  fulfilment  of  biblical  prophecy  in 
the  events  transpiring  round  about  us  or  impending  over 
us.  The  Bible  is  no  such  book  as  this — it  is  a  book  of 
life,  a  real  book,  a  people's  book.  It  is  a  blessed  means  of 
grace  when  used  in  devotional  hours, — it  has  also  holy 
lessons  and  beauties  of  thought  and  sentiment  for  hours 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  5 

of  leisure  and  recreation.  It  appeals  to  the  aesthetic 
and  intellectual  as  well  as  moral  and  spiritual  faculties, 
the  whole  man  in  his  whole  life.  -Familiarity  with  the 
Bible  is  to  be  encouraged.  It  will  not  decrease,  but 
rather  enhance  the  reverence  with  which  we  ought  to 
approach  the  Holy  God  in  His  Word.  The  Bible 
takes  its  place  among  the  masterpieces  of  the  world's 
literature.  The  use  of  it  as  such  no  more  interferes 
with  devotion  than  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  archi- 
tecture and  music  prevent  the  adoration  of  God  in  the 
worship  of  a  cathedral.  Rather  the  varied  forms  of 
beauty,  truth,  and  goodness  displayed  in  the  Bible  will 
conspire  to  bring  us  to  Him  who  is  the  centre  and  in- 
spiration of  them  all. 

Another  sin  against  the  Bible  is  often  committed  by 
the  indiscriminate  use  of  proof  texts  in  dogmatic  asser- 
tion and  debate.  They  are  hurled  against  one  another 
in  controversy  with  such  difference  of  interpretation 
that  it  has  become  a  proverb  that  anything  can  be  proved 
from  the  Bible.  The  Bible  has  been  too  often  used  as 
if  it  were  a  text-book  of  abstract  definitions  giving  ab- 
solute truth.  On  the  contrary,  the  Bible  was  not  made 
for  ecclesiastical  lawyers,  but  for  the  people  of  God.  It 
gives  the  concrete  in  the  forms  and  methods  of  general 
literature.)  Its  statements  are  ordinarily  relative];  they 
depend  upon  the  context  in  which  they  are  imbedded, 
the  scope  of  the  author's  argument,  his  peculiar  point  of 
view,  his  type  of  thought,  his  literary  style,  his  position 
in  the  unfolding  of  divine  revelation.  There  are  occa- 
sional passages  so  pregnant  with  meaning  that  they  seem 
to  present,  as  it  were,  the  quintessence  of  the  whole 
Bible.  Such  texts  were  called  by  Luther  little  bibles. 
But  ordinarily,  the  texts  can  be  properly  understood  only 
in  their  context.     To  detach  them  from  their  place  and 


g  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

use  them  as  if  they  stood  alone,  and  deduce  from 
them  all  that  the  words  and  sentences  may  be  con- 
strained to  give,  as  absolute  statements,  is  an  abuse  of 
logic  and  the  Bible.  Such  a  use  of  other  books  would 
be  open  to  the  charge  of  misrepresentation.  Such  a  use 
of  the  Bible  is  an  adding  unto  the  Word  of  God  new 
meanings  and  taking  away  from  it  the  true  meaning. 
Against  this  we  are  warned  by  the  Bible  itself  (Rev.  xxii. 
18-19).  Deduction,  inference,  and  application  may  be 
used  within  due  bounds,  but  they  must  always  be  based 
upon  a  correct  apprehension  of  the  text  and  context  of 
the  passage.  These  processes  should  be  conducted  with 
great'caution,  lest  in  transferring  the  thought  to  new  con- 
ditions and  circumstances,  there  be  an  insensible  assimi- 
lation first  of  its  form  and  then  of  its  content  to  these 
conditions  and  circumstances,  and  it  become  so  trans- 
formed as  to  lose  its  biblical  character  and  become  a 
tradition  of  man.*  It  is  a  melancholy  feature  of  bibli- 
cal study  that  so  much  attention  must  be  given  to  the 
removal  of  the  rubbish  of  tradition  that  has  been  heaped 
upon  the  Word  of  God  now  as  in  the  times  of  Jesus. 
The  Bible  is  like  an  oasis  in  a  desert.  Eternal  vigilance 
and  unceasing  activity  are  necessary  to  prevent  the  sands 
from  encroaching  upon  it  and  overwhelming  its  fertile 
soil  and  springs  of  water. 

The  Bible  is  given  to  us  in  the  forms  of  the  world's 
literature,  and  its  meaning  is  to  be  determined  by  the 
reader  as  he  determines  the  meaning  of  other  literature 
by  the  same  principles  of  exegesis.  It  is  a  Protestant 
principle  that  the  Word  of  God  should  be  given  to  the 
people  in  their  own  familiar  tongue  with  the  right  of 
private  judgment  in  its  interpretation.     It  is  a  corollary 


*  Westm.  Confession  0/  Faith,  I.  6. 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  7 

of  this  principle  that  they  be  taught  that  it  is  to  be  under- 
stood in  a  natural  sense,  as  other  writings  are  understood. 
Any  unnatural  and  artificial  interpretation  bears  its  own 
condemnation  in  itself.  The  saving  truths  of  Scripture 
can  be  "  savingly  understood  "  only  through  the  illumi- 
nation of  the  Spirit  of  God,*  but  this  is  not  for  the  reason 
that  they  are  not  sufficiently  plain  and  intelligible,  or 
that  some  special  principles  of  interpretation  are  needed 
of  a  scholastic  or  cabalistic  sort — but  owing  to  the  fact 
that  in  order  to  salvation  they  must  be  applied  to  the 
soul  of  man  by  a  divine  agent,  and  appropriated  by  the 
faith  of  the  heart  and  the  practice  of  the  life. 

We  must  call  attention  to  a  still  more  serious  mistake 
in  the  use  of  the  Bible.  There  a're  those  who  think  that 
they  alone  have  the  truth  of  God,  that  the  highest  wis- 
dom has  already  been  attained,  and  that  they  are  the 
guardians  of  orthodoxy.  They  presume  to  oppose  the 
discoveries  in  science  or  philosophy,  the  improvements 
in  theology  and  methods  of  church  work,  and  even  the 
deeper  study  of  the  Word  of  God  itself,  by  isolated 
texts  and  traditional  interpretations.  Scarcely  a  pro- 
found thinker,  since  the  days  of  Socrates,  who  has  not 
been  obliged  to  pause  in  his  work  and  defend  himself, 
like  the  apostle  Paul,  against  these  "dogs"  and  "evil 
workers "  (Phil.  iii.  2).  Galileo  was  silenced  by  the 
quoting  of  the  Bible  against  the  Copernican  theory  of 
the  revolution  of  the  earth  around  the  sun.  Descartes 
had  to  defend  his  orthodoxy.  The  enemies  of  the  Crit- 
ical philosophy  of  Kant  charged  that  no  critic  who  fol- 
lowed out  the  consequences  of  his  positions  could  be  a 
good  man,  a  good  citizen,  or  a  good  Christian.f 


*  Westminster  Confession^  I.,  6. 

+  These  points  are  discussed  by  Krug,  Ueher  das  Verhaltniss  der  Kritischen 
Philo Sophie  zur  mora'isc/ien,  politischen  und  religioscn  Kultur  der  Metischen. 
Jena,  179S. 


3  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

The  results  of  Geology  have  been  opposed  by  those 
who  insist  that  the  world  was  made  in  six  days  of  twen- 
ty-four hours.  Biology  has  to  fight  its  way  against  those 
who  affirm  that  the  doctrine  of  development  is  against 
the  Scriptures.  Such  use  of  the  Bible  has  too  often  the 
effect  of  driving  scholars  away  from  it,  and  especially 
from  the  Old  Testament,  the  most  abused  part  of  it. 

As  Dr.  C.  A.  Row  says  : 

"  The  fact  is  therefore  indisputable,  that  theologians  have  handled 
Scripture  on  such  faulty  principles,  that  they  have  laid  down  as  truths 
indisputably  divine,  a  number  of  dogmas  which  have  brought  reve- 
lation into  direct  collision  with  some  of  the  greatest  discoveries  of 
modern  science,  and  that  after  having,  on  their  first  enunciation,  de- 
nounced them  as  inconsistent  with  the  belief  that  Scripture  contains 
the  record  of  a  divine  revelation,  they  have  been  compelled  to  accept 
them  as  unquestionable  verities.  Moreover,  the  general  distrust 
arising  from  failures  of  this  kind  has  been  intensified  by  the  pertinac- 
ity with  which  theologians  have  clung  to  various  unsound  positions, 
which  they  have  only  abandoned  when  further  resistance  had  be- 
come impossible.  The  history  of  the  conflict  between  Science  and 
Revelation  is  full  of  such  instances,  and  the  consequences  have  been 
disastrous  in  the  extreme."  * 

Such  theologians  as  those  here  described  have  brought 
disgrace  upon  the  Church  and  especially  upon  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures.  Other  and  better  theologians 
have  taken  the  side  of  truth  and  science,  and  through 
their  help  progress  has  been  made. 

It  is  ever  necessary  for  the  friends  of  truth,  and  of 
progress  in  the  Church  to  oppose  and  to  overcome  ob- 
structionists. It  is  the  duty  of  all  lovers  of  the  Bible  to 
break  up  the  superstitions  that  cluster  about  it,  to  ex- 
pose the  false  dogmatic  and  polemic  use  of  its  texts, 
and  to  show  that  it  favors  all  truth  and  every  form  of 


*  Revelaiicn  and  Mcdern  Theology  Contrasted.     London,  1S83.    p^  7. 


THE  ADVANTAGES  OF  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  9 

scholarly  investigation.  The  Bible  is  an  honest  book  in 
all  its  parts, — it  is  the  Word  of  God,  and  every  sincere 
disciple  of  wisdom  will  find  in  its  pages  not  only  the 
real  and  the  highest  truth,  but  will  be  stimulated  and 
encouraged  to  press  forward  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  unto  all  truth  (John  xvi.  13). 

The  design  of  this  book  is  to  set  forth  the  principles, 
methods,  and  branches  of  Biblical  study,  and  to  give 
sketches  of  their  history.  It  is  proposed,  first  of  all,  to 
survey  the  whole  field,  and  then  to  examine  the  several 
departments.  We  shall  aim  to  explain  the  true  uses  of 
the  Bible  and  show  throughout  that  Biblical  study  is, 
as  we  have  claimed,  the  most  important,  extensive,  pro- 
found, and  attractive  of  all  studies. 
1* 


CHAPTER  II. 

EXEGETICAL  THEOLOGY. 

The  most  general  term  for  the  various  departments 
of  Biblical  study  is  Exegetical  Theology.  Exegetical 
Theology  is  one  of  the  four  grand  divisions  of  Theolog- 
ical Science.  It  is  related  to  the  other  divisions,  his- 
torical, systematic,  and  practical,  as  the  primary  and 
fundamental  discipline  upon  which  the  others  depend, 
and  from  which  they  derive  their  chief  materials.  Exe- 
getical Theology  has  to  do  especially  with  the  sacred 
Scriptures,  their  origin,  history,  character,  exposition, 
doctrines,  and  rules  of  life.  It  is  true  that  the  other 
branches  of  theology  have  likewise  to  do  with  the  sacred 
writings,  in  that  their  chief  material  is  derived  therefrom, 
but  they  differ  from  Exegetical  Theology,  not  only  in 
their  methods  of  using  this  material,  but  likewise  in  the 
fact,  that  they  do  'not  themselves  search  out  and  gather 
this  material  directly  from  the  holy  writings,  but  depend 
upon  Exegetical  Theology  therefor ;  while  their  energies 
are  directed,  in  Historical  Theology  in  tracing  the  de- 
velopment of  that  material  as  the  determining  element 
in  the  history  of  the  people  of  God  ;  in  Systematic 
Theology,  in  arranging  that  material  in  the  form  most 
appropriate  for  systematic  study,  for  attack  and  defence, 
in  accordance  with  the  needs  of  the  age ;  in  Practical 

Theology,  in  directing  that  material  to  the  conversion 
(10) 


EXEGETICAL  THEOLOGY.  H 

of  souls,  and  training  them  in  the  holy  life.  Thus  the 
whole  of  theology  depends  upon  the  study  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  unless  this  department  be  thoroughly 
wrought  out  and  established,  the  whole  structure  of 
theological  truth  will  be  weak  and  frail,  and  it  will  be 
found,  in  the  critical  hour,  resting  on  the  shifting  sands 
of  human  opinion  and  practice,  rather  than  on  the  rock 
of  infallible  divine  truth. 

The  work  of  Exegetical  Theology  is  all  the  more  im- 
portant, that  each  age  has  its  own  peculiar  phase  or 
department  of  truth  to  elaborate  in  the  theological  con- 
ception and  in  the  life.  Unless,  therefore,  theology 
freshen  its  life  by  ever-repeated  draughts  from  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  it  will  be  unequal  to  the  tasks  imposed  upon 
it.  It  will  not  solve  the  problems  of  the  thoughtful, 
dissolve  the  doubts  of  the  cautious,  or  disarm  the  ob- 
jections of  the  enemies  of  the  truth.  History  will  not, 
with  her  experience,  unless  she  grasp  the  torch  of  divine 
revelation,  which  alone  can  illuminate  the  future  and 
clear  up  the  dark  places  of  the  present  and  the  past. 
Systematic  Theology  will  not  satisfy  the  demands  of  the 
age  if  she  appear  in  the  worn-out  armor  or  antiquated 
costulne  of  former  "generations.  She  must  beat  out  for 
herself  a  new  suit  of  armor  from  biblical  material  which 
is  ever  new ;  she  must  weave  to  herself  a  fresh  and 
sacred  costume  of  doctrine  from  the  Scriptures  which 
never  disappoint  the,  requirements  of  mankind  ;  and 
thus  armed  and  equipped  with  the  weapons  of  the  Liv- 
ing One,  she  will  prove  them  quick  and  powerful,  con- 
vincing and  invincible,  in  her  training  of  the  disciple, 
and  her  conflicts  with  the  infidel  and  heretic.  And  so 
Practical  Theology  will  never  be  able  to  convert  the 
world  to  Christ,  and  sanctify  the  Church,  without  ever 
renewing  its  life  from  the  Bible  fbuntain.     The  pure, 


12  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

noble,  and  soul-satisfying  truths  of  God's  Word  must 
so  pervade  our  liturgy,  hymnology,  catechetical  instruc- 
tion, pastoral  work  and  preaching,  as  to  supply  the  ne- 
cessities of  the  age,  for  "  man  shall  not  live  by  bread 
alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the 
mouth  of  God  "  (Matt.  iv.  4;  Deut.  viii.  3). 

The  history  of  the  Church,  and  Christian  experience, 
have  shown  that  in  so  far  as  the  other  branches  of  the- 
ology have  separated  themselves  from  this  fundamental 
discipline,  and  in  proportion  to  the  neglect  of  Exegetical 
Theology,  the  Church  has  fallen  into  a  dead  orthodoxy 
of  scholasticism,  has  lost  its  hold  upon  the  masses  of 
mankind,  so  that  with  its  foundations  undermined,  it 
has  yielded  but  feeble  resistance  to  the  onsets  of  in- 
fidelity. And  it  has  ever  been  that  the  reformation  or 
revival  has  come  through  the  resort  to  the  sacred  oracles, 
and  the  organization  of  a  freshly-stated  body  of  doctrine, 
and  fresh  methods  of  evangelization  derived  therefrom. 
We  thus  have  reason  to  thank  God  that  heresy  and  un- 
belief so  often  drive  us  to  our  citadel,  the  sacred  Script- 
ures, and  force  us  back  to  the  impregnable  fortress  of 
divine  truth,  in  order  that,  depending  no  longer  merely 
upon  human  weapons  and  defences,  we  may  use  rather 
the  divine.  Thus  we  reconquer  all  that  may  have  been 
lost  through  the  slackness  and  incompetence  of  those 
who  have  been  more  anxious  for  the  old  ways  than  for 
strength  of  position  and  solid  truth,  and  by  new  enter- 
prises we  advance  a  stage  onward  in  our  victorious  progress 
toward  the  end.  Our  adversaries  may  overthrow  our 
systems  of  theology,  our  confessions  and  catechisms,  our 
church  organizations  and  methods  of  work,  for  these  are, 
after  all,  human  productions,  the  hastily  thrown  up  out- 
works of  the  truth ;  but  they  can  never  contend  success- 
fully against  the  Word  of  God  that  liveth  and  abideth 


EXEQETICAL  THEOLOGY.  13 

forever  (i  Peter  i.  23),  which,  though  the  heavens  fall 
and  the  earth  pass  away,  will  not  fail  in  one  jot  or  tittle 
from  the  most  complete  fulfilment  (Matt.  v.  18),  which 
will  shine  in  new  beauty  and  glory  as  its  parts  are  one 
by  one  searchingly  examined,  and  which  will  prove  itself 
not  only  invincible,  but  all-conquering,  as  point  after 
point  is  most  hotly  contested.  We  are  assured  that  at 
last  it  will  claim  universal  obedience  as  the  pure  and 
faultless  mirror  of  Him  who  is  Himself  the  brightness  of 
the  Father's  glory  and  the  express  image  of  His  person 
(2  Cor.  iii.  18;  Heb.  i.  3). 

It  is  an  important  characteristic  of  the  Reformed 
churches  that  they  give  the  sacred  Scriptures  such  a 
fundamental  position  in  their  confessions  and  cate- 
chisms, and  lay  so  much  stress  upon  the  so-called 
formal  principle  of  the  Protestant  Reformation.  Thus 
in  both  Helvetic  confessions  and  in  the  Westminster  they 
constitute  the  first  article,*  while  in  the  Heidelberg  and 
Westminster  catechisms  they  are  placed  at  the  founda- 
tion— in  the  former  as  the  source  of  our  knowledge  of 
sin  and- misery  and  of  salvation  ;t  in  the  latter,  as  divid- 
ing the  catechism  into  two  parts,  teaching  "  what  man 
is  to  beheve  concerning  God,  and  what  duty  God  re- 
quires of  man";:j:  and  the  authority  of  the  Word  of  God 
as  "  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  obedience,"§  has  ever  been 
maintained  in  our  churches. 

Exegetical  Theology  being  thus,  according  to  its  idea, 
the  fundamental  theological  discipline,  and  all-important 
as  the  fruitful  source  of  theology,  it  must  be  thoroughly 
elaborated  in  all  its  parts  according  to  exact  and  well- 

*  Niemeyer,  Collectio  Con/ess.,  pp.  115,  467.    Schaff,  Creeds  of  Christendom^ 
1877,  iii.,  pp.  211,  237. 
t  Quest,  iii.  xir. 

X  Larger  Catechism,  Quest,  v. ;  Shorter  Catechism,  Quest,  iii. 
§  Larger  Catechism,  Ques.  v.  o 


14  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

defined  scientific  methods.  The  methods  proper  to 
Exegetical  Theology  are  the  synthetic  and  the  histor- 
ical, the  relative  importance  of  which  has  been  con- 
tested. The  importance  of  the  historical  method  is 
so  great  that  not  a  few  have  regarded  the  discipline,  as 
a  whole,  as  at  once  a  primary  division  of  Historical  The- 
ology. The  examination  of  the  Bible  sources,  the 
sacred  writings,  being  of  the  same  essential  character  as 
the  examination  of  other  historical  documents,  they 
should  be  considered  simply  as  the  sources  of  biblical 
history,  and  thus  the  writings  themselves  would  be 
most  appropriately  treated  under  a  history  of  biblical 
literature  (Hupfeld,  Reuss,  Fuerst,  et  al.),  and  the  doc- 
trines under  a  history  of  biblical  doctrine  (the  school  of 
Baur).*  But  the  sacred  writings  are  not  merely  sources  of 
historical  information ;  they  are  the  sources  of  the  faith  to 
be  believed  and  the  morals  to  be  practiced  by  all  the  world  ; 
they  are  of  everlasting  value  as  the  sum  total  of  sacred 
doctrine  and  law  for  mankind,  being  not  only  for  the 
past,  but  for  the  present  and  the  future,  as  God's  Holy 
Word  to  the  human  race,  so  that  their  value  as  historical 
documents  becomes  entirely  subordinate  to  their  value 
as  a  canon  of  holy  Scripture,  the  norm  and  rule  of  faith 
and  life.  Hence  the  synthetic  method  must  predomi- 
nate over  the  historical,  as  the  proper  exegetical  method, 
and  induction  rule  in  all  departments  of  the  work  ;  for 
it  is  the  office  of  Exegetical  Theology  to  gather  from 
these  sacred  writings,  as  the  storehouse  of  divine  truth, 
the  holy  material,  in  order  to  arrange  it  by  a  process  of 
induction  and  generalization  into  the  generic  forms  that 
may  best  express  the  conceptions  of  the  sacred  Script- 
ures themselves. 


*  Compare  the  author's  articles  on  Biblical  Theology,  American  Presbyterian 
Review,  1S70,  p.  122,  seq.,  and  Presbyterian  Review^  July,  1ES2,  p.  503,  seq.^ 
and  chap,  xi,  of  this  volume. 


EXEGETICAL  THEOLOGY.  15 

From  this  point  of  view  it  is  clear  that  the  analytic 
method  can  have  but  a  very  subordinate  place  in  our 
branch  of  theology.  It  may  be  necessary  in  the  work 
of  separating  the  material  in  the  work  of  gathering 
it,  but  this  is  only  in  order  to  the  synthetic  process, 
which  must  ever  prevail.  It  is  owing  to  the  improper 
application  of  the  analytic  method  to  exegesis,  that 
such  sad  mistakes  have  been  made  in  interpreting  the 
Word  of  God,  making  exegesis  the  slave  of  dogmatics 
and  tradition,  when  she  can  only  thrive  as  the  free- 
born  daughter  of  truth.  Her  word  does  not  yield  to 
dogmatics,  but  before  her  voice  tradition  must  ever 
give  way.  For  exegesis  cannot  go  to  the  text  with  pre- 
conceived opinions  and  dogmatic  views  that  will  con- 
strain the  text  to  accord  with  them,  but  rather  with  a 
living  faith  in  the  perspicuity  and  power  of  the  Word 
of  God  alone,  of  itself,  to  persuade  and  convince ;  and 
with  reverential  fear  of  the  voice  of  Him  v;ho  speaks 
through  it,  which  involves  assurance  of  the.  truth,  and 
submission  and  prompt  obedience  to  His  will.  Thus, 
exegesis  does  not  start  from  the  unity  to  investigate  the 
variety,  but  from  the  variety  to  find  the  unity.  It  does 
not  seek  the  author's  view  and  the  divine  doctrine 
through  an  analysis  of  the  v/riting,  the  chapter,  the 
verse,  down  to  the  word  ;  but,  inversely,  it  starts  with 
the  word  and  the  clause,  pursuing  its  way  through  the 
verse,  paragraph,  section,  chapter,  writing,  collection  of 
writings,  the  entire  Bible,  until  the  whole  Word  of  God 
is  displayed  before  the  mind  from  the  summit  that  has 
been  attained  after  a  long  and  arduous  climbing. 

Thus  Exegetical  Theology  is  a  science,  whose  pre- 
mises and  materials  are  no  less  clear  and  tangible  than 
those  with  which  any  other  science  has  to  do,  and  whose 
results  are  vastly  more  important  than  all  other  sciences 


IQ  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

combined,  as  they  concern  our  salvation  and  everlasting 
welfare ;  and  if,  furthermore,  this  material,  with  which 
we  have  to  do,  be  what  it  claims  to  be — the  very  word 
of  God  to  man, — it  is  clear  that  here  alone  we  have  a 
science  that  deals  with  immutable  facts  and  infallible 
truths,  so  that  our  science  may  take  its  place  in  the  cir- 
cle of  sciences,  as  the  royal,  yes,  the  divine  science.  But 
let  it  be  remembered  that  this  position  will  be  accorded 
it  by  the  sciences  only  in  so  far  as  theology  as  a  whole 
is  true  to  the  spirit  and  character  of  its  fundamental  dis- 
cipline, is  open-eyed  for  all  truth,  courts  investigation 
and  criticism  of  its  own  materials  and  methods,  and 
does  not  assume  a  false  position  of  dogmatism  and  tra- 
ditional prejudice,  or  attempt  to  tyrannize  over  the  other 
sciences  in  their  earnest  researches  after  the  truth. 

Exegetical  Theology  being  thus  fundamental  and  im- 
portant, having  such  thorough-going  scientific  methods, 
it  must  have  manifold  divisions  and  subdivisions  of  its 
work.  These,  in  their  order  and  mutual  relation,  are 
determined  by  a  proper  adjustment  of  its  methods  and 
the  subordination  of  the  historical  to  the  inductive  proc- 
ess. Thus  at  the  outset  there  are  imposed  upon  those 
who  would  enter  upon  the  study  of  the  sacred  Script- 
ures certain  primary  and  fundamental  questions  respect- 
ing the  holy  writings,  such  as:  Which  are  the  sacred 
writings  ?  why  do  we  call  them  sacred  ?  whence  did  they 
originate?  under  what  historical  circumstances?  who 
were  their  authors?  to  whom  were  they  addressed? 
what  was  their  design  ?  are  the  writings  that  have  come 
down  to  us  genuine?  is  the  text  reliable?  and  the  like. 
These  questions  may  be  referred  to  the  general  depart- 
ment of  Biblical  Literature.  Then  the  Scriptures  are  to 
be  interpreted  according  to  correct  principles  and  meth- 
ods, with  all  the  light  that  the  study  of  centuries  may 


EXEGETICAL  THEOLOGY.  17 

throw  upon  them.  1\\\s,\s  Biblical  Exegesis.  Finally,  the 
results  of  this  exegetical  process  are  to  be  gathered  into 
one  organic  whole.  This  is  Biblical  Theology,  These 
then  are  the  three  grand  divisions  into  which  Exegeti- 
cal Theology  naturally  divides  itself,  each  in  turn  having 
its  appropriate  subordinate  departments. 

I.  Biblical  Literature  has  as  its  work  to  deter- 
mine all  those  introductory  questions  that  may  arise  re- 
specting the  sacred  writings,  preliminary  to  the  work 
of  exegesis.  These  questions  are  various,  yet  may  be 
grouped  in  accordance  with  a  general  principle.  But  it 
is,  first  of  all,  necessary  to  limit  the  bounds  of  our  de- 
partment and  exclude  from  it  all  that  does  not  properly 
come  within  its  sphere.  Thus  Hagenbach*  bring*  into 
consideration  here  certain  questions  which  he  assigns  to 
the  auxiliary  disciplines  of  Sacred  Philology,  Sacred 
Archaeology,  and  Sacred  Canonics.  But  it  is  difificult  to 
see  why,  if  these  are  in  any  essential  relation  to  our  de- 
partment, they  should  not  be  logically  incorporated; 
while  if  they  do  not  stand  in  such  close  relations,  why 
they  should  not  be  referred  to  their  own  proper  depart- 
ments of  study.  Thus  Sacred  Canonics  clearly  belongs 
to  our  discipline,  whilst  Sacred  Archaeology  no  less  cer- 
tainly belongs  to  the  historical  department ;  and  as  for 
Sacred  Philology,  it  should  not  be  classed  with  theology 
at  all,  for  the  languages  of  the  Bible  are  not  sacred  from 
any  inherent  virtue  in  them,  but  only  for  the  reason 
that  they  have  been  selected  as  the  vehicle  of  divine 
revelation,  and  thus  their  connection  with  the  Script- 
ures is  providential  rather  than  necessary.  And  still 
further,  all  departments  of  theology  are  in  mutual  rela- 
tion to  one  another,  and  in  a  higher  scale  all  the  depart- 
ments of  learning  act  and  react  upon  one  another— suqh 

*  Encykhpadie^  gte  Auf.,  p.  40. 


18  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

as  theology,  philosophy,  philology,  and  history.  Hence, 
that  one  department  of  study  is  related  to  another  does 
not  imply  that  it  should  be  made  auxiliary  thereto. 
Thus  the  languages  of  Scripture  are  to  be  studied  pre- 
cisely as  the  other  languages,  as  a  part  of  General  Phi- 
lology. The  Hellenistic  Greek  is  a  dialect  of  the  Greek 
language,  which  is  itself  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Indo-Germanic  family,  while  the  Hebrew  and  Chaldee 
are  sisters  with  the  Assyrian  and  Syriac,  the  Arabic  and 
Ethiopic,  the  Phoenician  and  Samaritan,  of  the  Shemitic 
family.  The  study  of  these  languages,  as  languages, 
properly  belongs  to  the  college  or  university  course,  and 
has  no  appropriate  place  in  the  theological  seminary. 
Valifable  time  is  consumed  in  these  studies  that  is  taken 
from  Exegetical  Theology  itself  and  never  compensated 
for.  The  Shemitic  languages  are  constantly  rising  into 
prominence,  over  against  the  Indo-Germanic  family,  and 
demand  their  appropriate  place  in  the  curriculum  of  a 
liberal  education.*  The  time  has  fully  come  when  phi- 
lologists and  theologians  should  unitedly  insist  that  a 
place  should  be  found  for  them  in  the  college  course ; 
and  that  this  valuable  department  of  knowledge,  upon 
the  pursuit  of  which  so  much  depends  for  the  history  of 
the  Orient,  the  origin  of  civilization  and  mankind,  as 
well  as  the  whole  subject  of  the  three  great  religions  of 
the  world,  should  not  give  way  to  the  physical  sciences, 
which,  while  properly  of  subordinate  importance  as  deal- 
ing mainly  with  material  things,  have  already  assumed 
an  undue  prominence  in  our  institutions  of  learning 
over  against  philology,  history,  and  philosophy,  that 
deal  with  higher  and  nobler  problems.f 


*  See  A  Plea /or  a  more  tJiorough  study  of  the  Semitic  languages  in  Atnerica. 
Bjr  Prof.  S.  I.  Curtiss,  Jr.,  Chicago,  1879. 

+  German  theolog;y  has  a  great  advantage,  in  that  the  theological  student  is 
already  prepared  in  the  gymnasium  for  the  university  with  a  knowledge  of  He- 


EXEGETICAL  THEOLOGY,  19 

Still  further  it  is  to  be  noticed,  that  there  can  hence- 
forth be  no  thorough  mastery  of  the  Hebrew  tongue  by 
cHnging  reverently  to  the  skirts  of  the  Jew.  We  might^ 
as  well  expect  to  master  the  classic  Latin  from  the  lan- 
guage of  the  monks,  or  acquire  evangelical  doctrine 
from  Rome.  The  cognate  languages  are  indispensable. 
And  it  is  just  here  that  a  rich  treasure,  prepared  by 
divine  Providence  for  these  times,  is  pouring  into  our 
laps,  if  we  will  only  use  it.  The  Assyrian  alone,  as  re- 
cently brought  to  light,  and  established  in  her  position 
as  one  of  the  older  sisters,  is  of  inestimable  value, 
not  to  speak  of  the  Arabic  and  Syriac,  the  Ethiopic, 
Phoenician,  Samaritan,  and  the  lesser  languages  and 
dialects  that  the  monuments  are  constantly  revealing. 
Immense  material  is  now  at  hand,  and  is  still  being 
gathered  from  these  sources,  that  will  considerably 
modify  our  views  of  the  Hebrew  language,  and  of  the 
history  and  religion  of  the  Hebrews  in  relation  to  the 
other  peoples  of  the  Orient.  We  are  only  beginning  to 
learn  that  the  Hebrew  language  has  such  a  thing  as  a 
syntax,  and  that  it  is  a  highly  organized  and  wonder- 
fully flexible  and  beautiful  tongue,  the  result  of  centu- 
ries of  development.  As  the  bands  of  Massoretic  tra- 
dition are  one  after  another  falling  off,  the  inner  spirit 
and  life  of  the  language  are  disclosing  themselves, 
the    dry   bones    are    clothing    themselves    with    flesh, 


brew  relatively  equivalent  to  his  Greek.  The  Presbyterians  of  Scotland  have 
advanced  beyond  lis  in  this  respect,  by  requiring  an  elementary  knowledge  of 
Hebrew,  in  order  to  entrance  upon  the  theological  course,  at  the  same  time  pro- 
viding such  elementary  training  during  the  summer  vacation.  This  is  a  step  in 
which  we  might  readily  follow  them.  We  cannot  afford  to  wait  imtil  all  the 
colleges  follow  the  noble  lead  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  Lafayette,  and 
others,  in  giving  their  students  the  option  of  Hebrew  instruction  ;  but  must  use 
all  our  influence  to  constrain  them  to  fulfil  their  duty  of  preparing  students  for 
tlie  study  of  theology,  as  well  as  of  the  other  professions. 


20  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

and  rich,  warm  blood  is  animating  the  frame,  giving 
to  the  features  nobility  and  beauty.'*  If  the  Church 
is  to  be  renowned  for  its  mastery  of  the  Bible,  if  the 
symbols  and  the  life  of  the  Church  are  to  harmon- 
ize, we  must  advance  and  occupy  this  rich  and  fruitful 
field  for  the  Lord,  and  not  wait  for  unbehevers  to  oc- 
cupy it  before  us,  and  then  be  compelled  to  contend  at 
a  disadvantage,  they  having  the  prestige  of  knowledge 
and  success. 

While,  therefore,  we  exclude  the  study  of  the  Hebrew 
and  cognate  languages  from  the  range  of  Exegetical 
Theology,  we  magnify  their  importance,  not  only  to  the 
theological  student,  but  also  to  the  entire  field  of  schol- 
arship. Other  scholars  may  do  without  them,  but  for 
the  theologian  these  studies  are  indispensable,  and  we 
must  at  the  very  beginning  strain  all  our  energies  to  the 
mastery  of  the  Hebrew  tongue.  If  it  has  not  been  done 
before  entering  the  seminaries,  it  must  be  done  in  the 
seminaries,  and  those  who  have  no  seminary  or  college 
advantages  must  use  the  best  helps  they  can  find.f 

Having  excluded  Sacred  Philology  from  Exegetical 
Theology  and  from  Biblical  Literature,  we  now  have  to 
define  more  closely  the  proper  field  of  Biblical  Litera- 
ture.    Biblical  literature  has  to  do  with  all  questions 


*  It  is  exceedingly  gratifying  that  our  American  students  are  eagerly  entering 
upon  these  studies.  The  large  classes  in  Uie  cognate  languages,  in  our  seminaries 
promise  great  things  for  the  future  in  this  regard.  The  classes  in  the  Cognates 
in  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York,  in  1882-3,  were,  in  Arabic,  10 ;  in 
Assyrian,  Junior  and  Senior,  10  ;  in  Chaldee,  23 ;  in  Syriac,  9.  The  Cognates 
are  taught  in  many  seminaries,  such  as  Andover,  Yale,  Lane,  Princeton,  Auburn, 
Western,  Northwestern. 

t  Favorable  opportunities  are  now  afforded  for  the  study  of  Hebrew  by  Prof. 
William  R.  Harper,  Ph.D.,  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Morgan  Park,  Chi- 
cago, He  conducts  with  ability,  enthusiasm,  and  success  a  Hebrew  Correspond- 
ence school  of  several  classes  and  also  a  Hebrew  Summer  school.  Several  hun- 
dred ministers  and  laymen  have  already  been  trained  in  them. 


EXEGETICAL  THEOLOGY.  21 

respectinp:  the  sacred  Scriptures  that  may  be  necessary 
to  prepare  the  way  of  Biblical  Exegesis.  Looking  at 
the  sacred  Scriptures  as  the  sources  to  be  investigated, 
we  see  three  fields  of  inquiry  presenting  themselves  : 
the  collection  or  canon,  the  text,  and  the  individual 
writings  ;  or,  in  more  detail,  the  three  groups  of  ques- 
tions :  I.  As  to  the  idea,  extent,  character,  and  author- 
ity of  the  ca?ion,  collected  as  the  sacred  Scriptures  of 
the  church.  2.  As  to  the  text  of  which  the  canon  is 
composed,  the  MSS.  in  which  it  is  preserved,  the  trans- 
lations of  it,  and  citations  from  it.  3.  As  to  the  origin, 
authorship,  time  of  composition,  character,  design,  and 
direction  of  the  individual  writings  that  claim,  or  are 
claimed,  to  belong  to  the  sacred  Scriptures.  These  sub- 
ordinate branches  of  Biblical  Literature  may  be  called 
Biblical  Canonics,  the  Lower  or  Textual  Criticism,  and 
the  Higher  Criticism. 

I.  Biblical  Canonics  considers  the  canon  of  sacred  Script- 
ure as  to  its  idea,  its  historical  formation,  its  extent, 
character,  authority,  and  historical  influence.  These  in- 
quiries are  to  be  made  in  accordance  with  the  historical 
and  synthetic  methods.  We  are  not  to  start  with  pre- 
conceived dogmatic  views  as  to  the  idea  of  the  canon, 
but  derive  this  idea  by  induction  from  the  sacred  writ- 
ings themselves ;  and  in  the  same  manner  decide  all 
other  questions  that  may  arise.  Thus  the  extent  of  the 
canon  is  not  to  be  determined  by  the  consensus  of  the 
churches,*  or  by  the  citation  and  reverent  use  of  them 
in  the  fathers,  and  their  recognition  by  the  earliest 
standard  authorities,f  for  these  historical  evidences,  so 


■^  Indeed,  they  do  not  agree  with  reference  to  its  extent  whether  it  includes  the 
Apocryphal  books  or  not,  and,  still  further,  they  dilTer  in  the  matter  of  distin- 
guishing within  the  canon,  between  writings  of  jprimary  and  secondary  authority. 

t  These,  indeed,  are  not  entirely  agreed,  and  if  they  were,  could  only  give  us 
a  human  and  fallible  authority. 


22  BIBLICAX  STUDY. 

important  in  Historical  Theology,  have  no  value  in  Ex- 
egetical  Theology,  as  they  had  no  influence  in  the  for- 
mation of  the  canon  itself ;  nor,  indeed,  by  their  accord 
with  orthodoxy  or  the  rule  of  faith,*  for  it  is  not  only 
too  broad,  in  that  other  writings  than  sacred  are  ortho- 
dox, but  again  too  narrow,  in  that  the  standard  is  the 
shifting  one  of  subjective  opinion,  or  external  human 
authority,  which,  indeed,  presupposes  the  canon  itself  as 
an  object  of  criticism  ;  and  all  these  external  reasons, 
historical  and  dogmatic,  after  all,  can  have  but  a  provis- 
ional and  temporary  authority — but  the  only  authorita- 
tive and  final  decision  of  these  questions  is  from  the  in- 
ternal marks  and  characteristics  of  the  Scriptures,  their 
recognition  of  one  another,  their  harmony  with  the  idea, 
character,  and  development  of  a  divine  revelation,  as  it 
is  derived  from  the  Scriptures  themselves,  as  well  as 
their  own  well-tested  and  critically-examined  claims  to 
inspiration  and  authority,  and,  above  all,  the  divine  au- 
thority speaking  by  and  with  them.  These  reasons,  and 
these  alone,  gave  them  their  historical  position  and  au- 
thority as  a  canon.  And  it  is  only  on  this  basis  that 
the  historical  and  dogmatic  questions  may  be  properly 
considered,  with  respect  to  their  recognition  by  Jew 
and  Christian,  and  their  authority  in  the  church.  The 
writings  having  thus  been  considered  collectively,  we  are 
prepared  for  the  second  step,  the  examination  of  the 
text  itself. 

2.  Textual  Criticism  considers  the  text  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures  both  as  a  whole  and  in  detail.  The  sacred 
writings  have  shared  the  fate  of  all  human  productions 
in  their  transmission   from  hand  to  hand,  and  in  the 


*  It  was  in  accordance  with  this  subjective  standard  that  Luther  rejected  the 
epistle  of  James,  and  Esther.  Comp.  Domer,  Gesch,  der  Protest.  TAeoIo^'e, 
1868,  p.  234,  seq. 


EXEGETICAL  THEOLOGY.  23 

multiplication  of  copies.  Hence,  through  the  mistakes 
of  copyists,  the  intentional  corruption  of  the  heretic, 
and  supposed  improvement  of  the  over-anxious  ortho- 
dox, the  MSS.  that  have  been  preserved  betray  differ- 
ences of  reading.  This  department  has  a  wide  field  of 
investigation.  First  of  all,  the  peculiarities  of  the  Bible 
language  must  be  studied,  and  the  idiomatic  individual- 
ities of  the  respective  authors. '  Then  the  age  of  the 
various  MSS.  must  be  determined,  their  peculiarities, 
and  relative  importance.  The  ancient  versions  now 
come  into  the  field,  especially  the  Septuagint,  the  Chal- 
dee  and  Samaritan  Targums,  the  Syriac  Peshitto,  and 
the  Vulgate,  which  again,  each  in  turn,  has  to  go  through 
the  same  sifting  as  to  the  critical  value  of  its  own  text. 
Here,  especially  in  the  Old  Testament,  we  go  back  of 
any  MSS.  and  are  brought  face  to  face  with  differences 
that  can  be  accounted  for  only  on  the  supposition  of 
original  MSS.,  whose  peculiarities  have  been  lost.  To 
these  may  be  added  the.  citations  of  the  original  text  in 
the  Talmud  and  Christian  scholars.  Then  we  have  the 
still  more  difficult  comparison  of  parallel  passages,  where 
differences  of  text  show  a  difference  in  MSS.  reaching 
far  back  of  any  historical  MSS.,  or  even  version.*  Text- 
ual Criticism  has  to  meet  all  these  difificulties  and 
answer  all  these  questions,  and  harmonize  and  adjust  all 
these  differences,  in  order  that,  so  far  as  possible,  the 
genuine,  original,  pure,  and  uncorrupted  text  of  the 
Word  of  God  may  be  gained,  as  it  proceeded  directly 
from  the  original  authors  to  the  original  readers.     This 

*  Comp.  Psalm  xiv.  with  Psalm  liii. ;  Psalm  xviii.  with  2  Samuel  xxii.,  and 
the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings  on  one  hand,  %vith  the  books  of  the  Chronicles 
on  the  other,  and,  indeed,  throughout.  Compare  also  the  Canonical  books  of 
Ezra,  Nehemiah,  and  Daniel,  with  the  Apocryphal  additions  and  supplements  in 
the  Septuagfint  version,  and  finally  tlie  citation  of  earlier  writings  in  the  later 
ones,  especially  in  the  New  Testament. 


24  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

department  of  study  is  all  the  more  difficult  for  the  Old 
Testament,  that  the  field  is  so  immense,  the  writings  so 
numerous,  various,  and  ancient,  the  languages  so  little 
understood  in  their  historical  peculiarities,  and,  still  fur- 
ther, in  that  we  have  to  overcome  the  prejudices  of  the 
Massoretic  system,  which,  while  faithful  and  reliable  so 
far  as  the  knowledge  of  the  times  went,  yet,  as  resting 
simply  on  tradition,  without  critical  or  historical  investi- 
gation, and  without  any  proper  conception  of  the  gen- 
eral principles  of  grammar  and  comparative  philology, 
cannot  be  accepted  as  final  ;  for  the  time  has  long  since 
passed  when  the  vowel  points  and  accents  can  be  deemed 
inspired.  We  have  to  go  back  of  them,  to  the  unpointed 
text,  for  all  purposes  of  criticism. 

3.  The  Higher  Criticism  is  distinguished  from  the 
Lower  or  Textual  Criticism  by  presupposing  the  text  and 
dealing  with  individual  writings  and  groups  of  writings. 
The  parts  of  writings  should  be  first  investigated,  the 
individual  writings  before  the  collected  ones.  With  ref- 
erence to  each  writing,  or,  it  may  be,  part  of  a  writing, 
we  have  to  determine  the  historical  origin  and  author- 
ship, the  original  readers,  the  design  and  character  of  the 
composition,  and  its  relation  to  other  writings  of  its 
group.  These  questions  must  be  settled  partly  by  ^jr. 
ternal  historical G.v\(^er\ce,  but  chiefly  by  interna/  evidence, 
such  as  the  language,  style  of  composition,  archaeolog- 
ical and  historical  traces,  the  conceptions  of  the  author 
respecting  the  various  subjects  of  human  thought,  and 
the  like.  Now  with  reference  to. such  questions  as  these, 
we  have  little  to  do  with  traditional  views  or  dogmatic 
opinions.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  prevailing  views 
in  the  church  with  reference  to  the  Pentateuch,  Psalter, 
or  any  other  book  of  Scripture,  they  will  not  deter  the 
conscientious  exegete  from  accepting  and  teaching  the  re- 


EXEGETICAL  THEOLOGY.  25 

suits  of  a  historical  and  critical  study  of  the  writings 
themselves. 

It  is  just  here  that  Christian  theologians  have  greatly 
injured  the  cause  of  the  truth  and  the  Bible  by  dogma- 
tizing in  a  department  where  it  is  least  of  all  appropri- 
ate, and,  indeed,  to  the  highest  degree  improper,  as  if 
our  faith  depended  at  all  upon  these  human  opinions  re- 
specting the  Word  of  God  ;  as  if  the  Scriptures  could  be 
benefited  by  defending  the  indefensible,  whereas  by  fre- 
quent and  shameful  defeats  and  routs  traditionalists  bring 
disgrace  and  alarm  even  into  the  impregnable  fortress  it- 
self, and  prejudice  the  sincere  inquirer  against  the  Script- 
ures, as  if  these  were  questions  of  orthodoxy  or  piety, 
or  of  allegiance  to  the  Word  of  God  or  the  symbols  of 
the  church.  The  Westminster  standards  teach  that 
"  the  word  of  God  is  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  obedi- 
ence," *  and  that  "the  authority  of  the  Holy  Scripture, 
for  which  it  ought  to  be  believed  and  obeyed,  depend- 
eth  not  upon  the  testimony  of  any  man  or  church,  but 
wholly  upon  God,  the  author  thereof."  f  The  other  Prot- 
estant symbols  are  in  accord  with  them.  How  unortho- 
dox it  is,  therefore,  to  set  up  another  rule  of  prevalent 
opinion  as  a  stumbling-block  to  those  who  would  accept 
the  authority  of  the  Word  of  God  alone.  So  long  as  the 
Word  of  God  is  honored,  and  its  decisions  regarded  as 
final,  what  matters  it  if  a  certain  book  be  detached  from 
the  name  of  one  holy  man  and  ascribed  to  another,  or 
classed  among  those  with  unknown  authors  ?  Are  the 
laws  of  the  Pentateuch  any  less  divine,  if  it  should  be 
proved  that  they  are  the  product  of  the  experience  of 
God's  people  from  Moses  to  Josiah?:}:     Is  the  Psalter  to 


*  Larger  Catechism,  Quest.  iiL  +  Confess,  of  Faith,  Chap.  i.  4. 

X  British  and  Foreign  Evang.  Review,  July,  1868,  Art,  "  The  Progress  of 
Old  Testament  Studies." 
9. 


26  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

be  esteemed  any  the  less  precious  that  the  psalms  should 
be  regarded  as  the  product  of  many  poets  singing  through 
many  centuries  the  sacred  m.elodies  of  God-fearing  souls, 
responding  from  their  hearts,  as  from  a  thousand-stringed 
lyre,  to  the  touch  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel?  Is  the 
book  of  Job  less  majestic  and  sublime,  as,  the  noblest 
monument  of  sacred  poetry,  it  stands  before  us  in  its 
solitariness,  with  unknown  author,  unknown  birthplace, 
and  from  an  unknown  period  of  history  ?  Are  the  ethi- 
cal teachings  of  the  Proverbs,  the  Song  of  Songs,  and 
Ecclesiastes,  any  the  less  solemn  and  weighty,  that  they 
may  not  be  the  product  of  Solomon's  wisdom  alone,  but 
of  the  reflection  of  many  holy  wise  men  of  different 
epochs,  gathered  about  Solomon  as  their  head?  Is  the 
epistle  to  the  Hebrews  any  less  valuable  for  its  clear  pre- 
sentation of  the  fulfilment  of  the  Old  Testament  priest- 
hood and  sacrifice  in  the  work  of  Christ,  that  it  must  be 
detached  from  the  name  of  Paul  ?  Let  us  not  be  so  pre- 
sumptuous, so  irreverent  to  the  Word  of  God,  so  unbe- 
lieving with  reference  to  its  inherent  power  of  convinc- 
ing and  assuring  the  seekers  for  the  truth,  as  to  condemn 
any  sincere  and  candid  inquirer  as  a  heretic  or  a  ration- 
alist, because  he  may  differ  from  us  on  such  questions 
as  these !  The  internal  evidence  must  be  decisive  in  all 
questions  of  Biblical  Criticism,  and  the  truth,  whatever 
it  may  be,  will  be  most  in  accordance  with  God's  Word 
and  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  interest  of  the  church.* 
Thus  Biblical  Literature  gives  us  all  that  can  be  learned 
respecting  the  canon  of  Holy  Scripture,  its  text  and  the 


*  The  whole  of  this  paragraph  was  written  and  delivered  before  the  outbreak 
of  the  Robertson  Smith  controversy  in  Scotland  and  the  discussions  respecting 
the  Higher  Criticism  in  the  United  States.  These  controversies  emphasize  the  im- 
portance and  the  correctness  of  the  principles  we  then  stated.  We  shall  come 
upon  them  again  in  Chapter  VII.,  which  is  devoted  to  the  subject 


EXEGETICAL  THEOLOGY.  27 

various  writings ;  and  presents  the  sacred  Scriptures  as 
the  holy  Word  of  God,  all  the  errors  and  improvements 
of  men  having  been  eliminated,  in  a  text,  so  far  as  pos- 
sible, as  it  came  from  holy  men  who  "spake  as  they 
were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost "  (2  Peter  i.  21);  so  that 
we  are  brought  into  the  closest  possible  relations  with 
the  living  God  through  His  Word,  having  in  our  hands 
the  very  fortn  that  contains  the  very  substance  of  divine 
revelation  ;  so  that  with  reverence  and  submission  to 
His  will  we  may  enter  upon  the  work  of  interpretation, 
confidently  expecting  to  be  assured  of  the  truth  in  the 
work  of  Biblical  Exegesis. 

n.  Biblical  Exegesis.  And  now  first  of  all  we  have 
to  lay  down  certain  general  principles  derived  from  the 
study  of  the  Word  of  God,  upon  which  this  exegesis  it- 
self is  to  be  conducted.  These  principles  must  accord 
with  the  proper  methods  of  Exegetical  Theology  and  the 
nature  of  the  work  to  be  done.  The  work  of  establish- 
ing these  principles  belongs  to  the  introductory  depart- 
ment of  Biblical  Hermeneutics.  The  Scriptures  are 
human  productions,  and  yet  truly  divine.  They  must 
be  interpreted  as  other  human  writings,  and  yet  their 
peculiarities  and  differences  from  other  human  writings 
must  be  recognized,*  especially  the  supreme  determining 
difference  of  their  inspiration  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  in 
accordance  with  which  they  require  not  only  a  sympathy 
with  the  human  element  in  the  sound  judgment  and 
practical  sense  of  the  grammarian,  the  critical  investiga- 
tion of  the  historian,  and  the  aesthetic  taste  of  the  man 
of  letters  ;  but  also  a  sympathy  with  the  divine  element, 
an  inquiring,  reverent  spirit  to  be  enlightened  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  without  which  no  exposition  of  the  Script- 


*  Comp.  Immer,  Hermeneutik  der  N.  7".,  p.  9. 


28  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

ures  as  sacred,  inspired  writings  is  possible.  It  is  this 
feature  that  distinguishes  the  discipline  from  the  other 
corresponding  ones,  as  Sacred  Henneneutics.  Thus  we 
have  to  take  into  the  account  the  inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures,  their  harmony,  their  unity  in  variety,  their 
sweet  simplicity,  and  their  sublime  mystery ;  and  all 
this  not  to  override  the  principles  of  grammar,  logic,  and 
rhetoric,  but  to  supplement  them ;  yes,  rather,  infuse 
into  them  a  new  life  and  vigor,  making  them  sacred 
grammar,  sacred  logic,  and  sacred  rhetoric.  And  just 
here  it  is  highly  important  that  the  history  of  exegesis 
should  come  into  the  field  of  study  in  order  to  show  us 
the  abuses  of  false  principles  of  interpretation  as  a  warn- 
ing ;  and  the  advantages  of  correct  principles  as  an  en- 
couragement.* 

After  this  preliminary  labor,  the  exegete  is  prepared 
for  his  work  in  detail.  The  immensity  of  these  details 
is  at  once  overpowering  and  discouraging.  The  extent, 
the  richness,  the  variety  of  the  sacred  writings,  poetr>', 
history,  and  prophecy,  extending  through  so  many  cent- 
uries, and  from  such  a  great  number  of  authors,  known 
and  unknown,  the  inherent  difficulty  of  interpreting  the 
sacred  mysteries,  the  things  of  God — who  is  sufficient 
for  these  things?  who  would  venture  upon  this  holy 
ground  without  a  quick  sense  of  his  incapacity  to  grasp 
the  divine  ideas,  and  an  absolute  dependence  upon  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  show  them  unto  him?  (John  xvi.  15). 
Truly,  here  is  a  work  for  multitudes,  for  ages,  for  the 
most  profound  and  devout  study  of  all  mankind,  for 
here  we  have  to  do  with  the  whole  word  of  God  to  man. 
The  exegete  is  like  the  miner.     He  must  free  himself  as 


*  Compare  especially  Diestel,  Gesch.  d.  A.  T,  in  der  Christ.  Kirche.    Jena, 
1869. 


EXEQETICAL  THEOLOGY.  29 

far  as  possible  from  all  traditionalism  and  dogmatic  prej- 
udice, must  leave  the  haunts  of  human  opinion,  and  bury 
himself  in  the  Word  of  God.  He  must  descend  beneath 
the  surface  of  the  Word  into  its  depths.  The  letter  must 
be  broken  through  to  get  at  the  precious  idea.  The  dry- 
rubbish  of  misconception  must  be  thrown  out,  and  a 
shaft  forced  through  every  obstacle  to  get  at  the  truth. 
And  while  faithful  in  the  employment  of  all  these  powers 
of  the  human  intellect  and  will,  Ihe  true  exegete  fears 
the  Lord,  and  only  thereby  hopes  through  his  intimaty 
with  Him  for  the  revelation  of  wisdom.* 

I.  The  exegete  begins  his  work  with  Grammatical 
Exegesis.  Here  he  has  to  do  with  X\\q.  form,  the  dress  of 
the  revelation,  which  is  not  to  be  disregarded  or  under- 
valued, for  it  is  the  form  in  which  God  has  chosen  to 
convey  His  truth,  the  dress  in  which  alone  we  can  ap- 
proach her  and  know  her.  Hebrew  grammar  must 
therefore  be  mastered  in  its  etymology  and  syntax,  or 
grammatical  exegesis  will  be  impossible.  Here  patience, 
exactness,  sound  judgment,  and  keen  discernment  are 
required,  for  every  word  is  to  be  examined  by  itself,  ety- 
mologically  and  historically,  not  etymologically  alone, 
for  Greek  and  Hebrew  roots  have  not  infrequently  been 
made  to  teach  very  false  doctrines.  It  has  been  forgot- 
ten that  a  word  is  a  living  thing,  and  has,  besides  its 
root,  the  still  more  important  stem,  branches,  ahd  prod- 
ucts— indeed,  a  history  of  meanings.  The  word  is  then 
to  be  considered  in  its  syntactical  relations  in  the  clause, 
and  thus  step  by  step  'Oi\^  grammatical  sense  is  to  be  as- 
certained, the  false  interpretations  eliminated,  and  the 
various  possible  meanings  correctly  presented  and  classi- 
fied.    Without  this  patient  study  of  words  and  clauses 


*  Job  xxviii.  28 ;  Ps.  xxv.  14 ;  Prov.  viii.  17,  seq. 


30  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

no  accurate  translation  is  possible,  no  trustworthy  expo- 
sition can  be  made.*  It  is  true  that  grammatical  exe- 
gesis leaves  us  in  doubt  between  many  possible  con- 
structions of  the  sense,  but  these  doubts  will  be  solved 
as  the  work  of  exegesis  goes  on,  and  then,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  eliminates  many  views  as  ungrammatical  which 
have  been  hastily  formed,  and  effectually  prevents  that 
jumping  at  conclusions  to  which  the  indolent  and  im- 
petuous are  alike  inclined. 

2.  The  second  step  in  exegesis  is  Logical  and  Rhetor- 
ical Exegesis.  The  words  and  clauses  must  be  inter- 
preted in  accordance  with  the  context,  the  development 
of  the  author's  thought  and  purpose  ;  and  also  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  principles  of  rhetoric,  discriminating 
plain  language  from  figurative,  poetry  from  prose,  history 
from  prophecy,  and  the  various  kinds  of  history,  poetry, 
and  prophecy  from  each  other.  This  is  to  be  done  not 
after  an  arbitrary  manner,  but  in  accordance  with  the 
general  laws  of  logic  and  rhetoric  that  apply  to  all  writ- 
ings whatever.  While  the  use  of  figurative  language 
has  led  the  mystic  and  the  dogmatist  to  employ  the 
most  arbitrary  and  senseless  exegesis,  yet  the  laws  of 
logic  and  rhetoric,  correctly  applied  to  the  text,  will  clip 
the  wings  of  the  fanciful,  and  destroy  the  assumptions  of 
the  dogmatist,  and,  still  further,  will  serve  to  determine 
many  questions  that  grammar  alone  cannot  decide,  and, 
hence,  more  narrowly  define  the  meaning  of  the  text. 

3.  The  third  step  in  exegesis  is  Historical  Exegesis. 
The  author  must  be  interpreted  in  accordance  with  his 


*  Yes,  we  may  say  that  no  translation  can  be  thoroughly  understood  after  the 
generation  in  which  it  was  made,  without  this  resort  to  the  original  text,  which 
alone  can  determine  in  many  cases  the  meaning  of  the  translators  themselves, 
when  we  come  upon  obsolete  terms,  or  words  whose  meanings  have  become 
modified  or  lost. 


EXEGETICAL  THEOLOGY.  3X 

historical  surroundings.  We  must  apply  to  the  text  the 
knowledge  of  the  author's  times,  derived  from  archaeol- 
ogy, geography,  chronology,  and  general  history.  Thus 
only  will  we  be  able  to  enter  upon  the  scenery  of  the 
text.  It  is  not  necessary  to  resort  to  the  history  of 
exegesis ;  one's  own  observation  is  sufficient  to  show 
the  absurdities  and  the  outrageous  errors  into  which  a 
neglect  of  this  principle  leads  many  earnest  but  ignorant 
men.  No  one  can  present  the  Bible  narrative  in  the 
dress  of  modern  every-day  life  without  making  the  story 
ridiculous.  And  it  must  be  so  from  the  very  nature  of 
the  case.  Historical  circumstances  are  essential  to  the 
truthfulness  and  vividness  of  the  narrative.  Instead  of 
our  transporting  Scripture  events  to  our  scenery,  we 
must  transport  ourselves  to  their  scenery,  if  we  would 
correctly  understand  them  and  realize  them.  If  we  wish 
to  apply  Scripture  truth  we  may,  after  having  correctly 
apprehended  it,  eliminate  it  from  its  historical  circum- 
stances, and  then  give  it  a  new  and  appropriate  form  for 
practical  purposes ;  but  we  can  never  interpret  Scripture 
without  historical  exegesis  ;  for  it  serves  to  more  nar- 
rowly define  the  meaning  of  the  text,  and  to  eliminate 
the  unhistorical  materials  from  the  results  thus  far  at- 
tained in  the  exegetical  process. 

4.  The  fourth  step  in  exegesis  is  Comparative  Exegesis. 
The  results  already  gained  with  reference  to  any  partic- 
ular passage  are  to  be  compared  with  the  results  attained 
in  a  like  manner  in  other  similar  passages  of  the  same 
author,  or  other  authors  of  the  period,  and  in  some  cases 
from  other  periods  of  divine  revelation.  Thus,  by  a 
comparison  of  scripture  with  scripture,  additional  light 
will  be  thrown  upon  the  passage,  the  true  conception 
will  be  distinguished  from  the  false,  and  the  results  at- 
tained adequately  supported. 


32  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

5.  The  fifth  step  in  exegesis  is  one  of  vast  importance, 
which,  for  lack  of  a  better  name,  may  be  called  Literary 
Exegesis.  Great  light  is  thrown  upon  the  text  by  the 
study  of  the  views  of  those  who,  through  the  centuries, 
in  many  lands,  and  from  the  various  points  of  view, 
have  studied  the  Scriptures.  Here  on  this  battle- 
ground of  interpretation  we  see  almost  every  view 
assailed  and  defended.  Multitudes  of  opinions  have 
been  overthrown,  never  to  reappear ;  others  are  weak 
and  tottering — comparatively  few  still  maintain  the 
field.  It  is  among  these  latter  that  we  must  in  the 
main  find  the  true  interpretation.  This  is  the  furnace 
into  which  the  results  thus  far  attained  by  the  exegete 
must  be  thrown,  that  its  fires  may  separate  the  dross 
and  leave  the  pure  gold  thoroughly  refined.  Christian 
divines,  Jewish  rabbins,  and  even  unbelieving  writers 
have  not  studied  the  Word  of  God  for  so  many  centuries 
in  vain.  No  true  scholar  can  be  so  presumptuous  as  to 
neglect  their  labors.  No  interpreter  can  rightly  claim 
originality  or  freshness  of  conception  who  has  not  famil- 
iarized himself  with  this  7nass  of  material  that  others 
have  wrought  out.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  the  best 
check  to  presumption,  to  know  that  every  view  that  is 
worth  anything  must  pass  through  the  furnace.  Any 
exegete  who  would  accomplish  anything  should  know 
that  he  is  to  expose  himself  to  the  fire  that  centres 
upon  any  combatant  that  will  enter  upon  this  hotly- 
contested  field.  From  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  he 
will  come  into  contact  with  human  views,  traditional 
opinions,  and  dogmatic  prejudices.  On  the  one  side 
these  will  severely  criticize  and  overthrow  many  of  his 
results ;  on  the  other  his  faithful  study  of  the  Word  of 
God  will  be  a  fresh  test  of  the  correctness  of  those  hu- 
man views  that  have  hitherto  prevailed.   Thus,  from  the 


EXEGETICAL  THEOLOGY.  33 

acting  and  reacting  influences  of  this  conflict,  the  truth 
of  God  will  maintain  itself,  and  it  alone  will  prevail. 

We  have  thus  far  described  these  various  steps  of 
exegesis,  in  order  that  a  clear  and  definite  conception 
may  be  formed  of  its  field  of  work— not  that  they  are 
ever  to  be  represented  by  themselves  in  any  commen- 
tary, or  even  carried  on  independently  by  the  exegete 
himself,  but  they  should  be  regarded  as  the  component 
parts  of  any  thorough  exegetical  process ;  and  although, 
as  a  rule,  naught  but  the  results  are  to  be  presented  to 
the  public,  yet  these  results  imply  that  no  part  of  the 
process  has  been  neglected,  but  that  all  have  harmonized 
in  them,  if  they  are  reliable  results. 

In  advancing  now  to  the  higher  processes  of  exe- 
gesis, we  observe  a  marked  difference  from  the  pre- 
vious ones,  in  that  they  have  had  to  do  with  the  en- 
tire text,  these  with  only  select  portions  of  it.  And 
•  still  further  we  would  remark,  that  while  in  these  proc- 
esses the  results  are  to  be  attained  which  vv'ill  be  most 
profitable  to  the  great  masses  of  mankind,  we  must 
severely  criticize  those  who,  without  having  gone 
through  them  themselves,  either  use  the  labors  of 
the  faithful  exegete  without  acknowledgment,  or  else, 
accepting  traditional  views  without  examination,  build 
on  an  unknown  foundation  ;  for  the  world  does  not  need 
theological  castles  in  the  air,  or  theories  of  Christian 
life,  but  a  solid  structure  of  divine  truth  as  the  home  of 
the  soul,  and  an  infallible  guide  for  living  and  dying. 

6.  The  sixth  step  in  exegesis  is  Doctrinal  Exegesis, 
which  considers  the  material  thus  far  gathered  in  order 
to  derive  therefrom  the  ideas  of  the  author  respecting 
religion,  faith,  and  morals.  These  ideas  are  then  to  be 
considered  in  their  relation  to  each  other  in  the  section 
and  chapter.  Thus  we  get  the  doctrine  that  the  author 
2* 


34 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


would  teach,  and  are  prepared  for  a  comparison  of  it 
with  the  doctrines  of  other  passages  and  authors.  Here 
we  have  to  contend  with  a  false  method  of  searching  for 
the  so-called  sj>irii:ia/ sense,  as  if  the  doctrine  could  be 
independent  of  the  form  in  which  it  is  revealed,  or,  in- 
deed, so  loosely  attached  to  it,  that  the  grammar  and 
logic  should  teach  one  thing,  and  the  spiritual  sense 
another.  There  can  be  no  spiritual  sense  that  does 
not  accord  with  the  results  thus  far  attained  in  the  exe- 
getical  process.  The  true  spiritual  sense  comes  before 
the  inquiring  soul  as  the  product  of  the  true  exegetical 
methods  that  have  been  described.  As  the  differences 
of  material  become  manifest  in  the  handling  of  it,  the 
doctrine  stands  forth  as  divine  and  infallible  in  its  own 
light.  Any  other  spiritual  sense  is  false  to  the  Word  of 
God,  whether  it  be  the  conceit  of  Jewish  cabalists  or 
Christian  mystics. 

7.  The  seventh  and  final  effort  of  exegesis  is  Practical- 
Exegesis,  the  application  of  the  text  to  the  faith  and  life 
of  the  present.  And  here  we  must  eliminate  not  only  the 
temporal  bearings  from  the  eternal,  but  also  those  ele- 
ments that  apply  to  other  persons  and  circumstances  than 
those  in  hand.  Everything  depends  upon  the  character 
of  the  work,  whether  it  be  catechetical,  homiletical,  evan- 
gelistic, or  pastoral.  All  Scripture  may  be  said  to  be  prac- 
tical for  sojne  purpose,  but  not  every  Scripture  for  every 
purpose.  Hence,  practical  exegesis  must  not  only  give 
the  true  meaning  of  the  text,  but  also  the  true  applica- 
tion of  the  text  to  the  matter  in  hand.  Here  we  have 
to  deal  with  a  false  method  of  seeking  edification 
and  deriving  pious  reflections  from  every  passage,  thus 
constraining  the  text  to  meanings  that  it  cannot  bear, 
doing  violence  to  the  Word  of  God,  which  is  not  only 
not  to  be  added  to  or  taken  from  as  a  whole,  but  also  as 


EXEGETICAL  THEOLOGY.  35 

to  all  its  parts.   This  spirit  of  interpretation,  while  nom- 
inally most  reverential,  is  really  very  irreverential.     It 
originates  from  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  the  neglect  to  use  the  proper  methods  of  exegesis, 
as  if  the  Holy  Spirit  would  reveal  the  sacred  mysteries 
to  the  indolent,  even  if  they  should  be  pious ;  for  while 
He  may  hide  the  truth  from  the  irreverent  critic.  He 
cannot  be  expected  to  reveal  it  except  to  those  who  not 
only  have  piety,  but  also  search  for  it  as  for  hidden  treas- 
ures.    This  indolence  and  presumptuous  reliance  upon 
the  Holy  Spirit,  which  too  often  proves  to  be  a  depend- 
ence upon  one's  own  conceits  and  fancies,  has  brought 
disgrace  upon  the  Word  of  God,  as  if  it  could  be  mani- 
fold in  sense,  or  were  able  to  prove  anything  that  might 
be  asked  of  it.     Nay,  still  worse,  it  leads  the  preacher 
to  burden  his  discourse  with  material  which,  however 
good  it  may  be  in  itself,  not  only  has  no  connection  with 
the  text,  but  no  practical  application  to  the  circumstances 
of  the  hour,  or  the  needs  of  the  congregation.     Over 
against  this  abuse  of  the  Scriptures,  the  exegete  learns 
to  use  it  properly,  and  while  he  cannot  find  everywhere 
what  he  needs,  yet  he  can  find  by  searching  for  it,  far 
more  and  better  than  he  needs  ;  yes,  he  will  learn,  as  he 
studies  the  Word,  that  it  needs  no  forcing,  but  aptly 
and   exactly  satisfies  with   appropriate    material  every 
phase  of  Christian  experience,  gently  clears  away  every 
shadow  of  difficulty  that  may  disturb  the  inquiring  spir- 
it, proving  itself  sufficient  for  each  and  every  one,  and 
ample  for  all  mankind. 

We  have  endeavored  to  consider  the  various  proc- 
esses of  exegesis  by  which  results  arc  attained  of  es- 
sential importance  to  all  the  other  departments  of  the- 
ology. The  work  of  the  exegete  is  foundation  work. 
It  Ts  the  work  of  the  study,  and  not  of  the  pulpit,  or 


36  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

the  platform.  It  brings  forth  treasures  new  and  old 
from  the  Word  of  God,  to  enrich  the  more  prominent 
and  public  branches  of  theology.  It  finds  the  nugget 
of  gold  that  they  are  to  coin  into  the  current  concep- 
tions of  the  times.  It  brings  forth  ore  that  they  are  to 
work  into  the  vessels  or  ornaments,  that  may  minister 
comfort  to  the  household  and  adorn  the  home  and  the 
person.  It  gains  the  precious  gems  that  are  to  be  set 
by  these  jewelers,  in  order  that  their  lustre  and  beauty 
may  become  manifest  and  admired  of  all.  Some  think 
it  strange  that  the  Word  of  God  does  not  at  once  reveal 
a  system  of  theology,  or  give  us  a  co7ifession  of  faith,  or 
catechism.  But  Archbishop  Whately  correctly  explains 
it  when  he  says  that, 

"  Since  no  one  of  the  first  promulgators  of  Christianity  did  that 
which  they  must,  some  of  them  at  least,  have  been  naturatly  led 
to  do,  it  follows  that  they  must  have  been  supernaiurally  withheld 
from  it."  .  .  .  .  "  Each  Church,  therefore,  was  left  through  the  wise 
foresight  of  Him  who  alone  '  knew  what  is  in  man,'  to  provide  for 
its  own  wants  as  they  should  arise ; — to  steer  its  own  course  by  the 
chart  and  compass  which  His  holy  word  supplies,  regulating  for 
itself  the  sails  and  rudder  according  to  the  winds  and  currents  it 
may  meet  with."  * 

Indeed  experience  shows  us  that  no  body  of  divinity 
can  answer  more  than  its  generation.  Every  catechism 
and  confession  of  faith  will  in  time  become  obsolete  and 
powerless,  remaining  as  historical  monuments  and  sym- 
bols, as  the  worn  and  tattered  banners  that  our  veterans 
or  honored  sires  have  carried  victoriously  through  the 
campaigns  of  the  past — but  not  suited  entirely  for  their 
descendants.  Each  age  has  its  own  peculiar  work  and 
needs,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  not  even  the 


*  Essays  on  some  of  the  Peculiarities  of  the  Christian  Religion.    Fifth  edi- 
tion, London,  1846.     Essay  vi.,  pp.  349,  355. 


EXEGETICAL  THEOLOGr.  87 

Bible  could  devote  itself  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the 
wants  of  any  particular  age,  without  thereby  sacrificing 
its  value  as  the  book  of  all  ages.  It  is  sufficient  that 
the  Bible  gives  us  the  material  for  all  ages,  and  leaves 
to  man  the  noble  task  of  shaping  that  material  so  as  to 
suit  the  wants  of  his  own  time.  The  word  of  God  is 
given  to  us  in  the  Bible,  as  His  truth  is  displayed  in 
physical  nature — in  an  immense  and  varied  storehouse 
of  material.  We  must  search  the  Bible  in  order  to  find 
what  we  require  for  our  soul's  food,  not  expecting  to 
employ  the  whole,  but  recognizing  that  as  there  is 
enough  for  us,  so  there  is  sufficient  for  all  mankind  and 
for  all  ages.  Its  diversities  are  appropriate  to  the  vari- 
ous types  of  human  character,  the  various  phases  of 
human  experience,  and  no  race,  no  generation,  no  man, 
woman,  or  child,  need  fail  in  finding  in  the  Scriptures 
the  true  soul-food,  for  it  has  material  of  abounding 
wealth,  surpassing  all  the  powers  of  human  thought  and 
all  the  requirements  of  human  life. 

III.  The  work  of  Exegetical  Theology  does  not  end, 
however,  with  the  work  of  Biblical  Exegesis,  but  advances 
to  its  conclusion  in  Biblical  Theology.  Exegetical 
Theology  not  only,  in  the  department  of  Biblical  Exege- 
sis, produces  the  material  to  be  used  in  the  other  depart- 
ment of  theology,  but  it  has  as  its  own  highest  problem, 
the  thorough  arrangement  of  that  material  in  accord- 
ance with  its  own  synthetic  method.  As  there  is  a  his- 
tory in  the  Bible,  an  unfolding  of  divine  revelation,  a 
unity,  and  a  wonderful  variety,  so  Exegetical  Theology 
cannot  stop  until  it  has  arranged  the  biblical  material 
in  accordance  with  its  historical  position,  and  its  relative 
value  in  the  one  structure  of  divine  revelation.  And 
here,  first,  we  see  the  culmination  of  the  exegetical  proc- 


38  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

ess,  as  all  its  departments  pour  their  treasures  into  this 
basin,  where  they  flow  together  and  become  compacted 
into  one  organic  whole — for  Biblical  Theology  rises  from 
the  exegesis  of  verses,  sections,  and  chapters,  to  the 
higher  exegesis  of  writings,  authors,  periods,  and  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  as  wholes,  until  the  Bible  is 
discerned  as  an  organism,  complete  and  symmetrical, 
one  as  God  is  one,  and  yet  as  various  as  mankind  is  vari- 
ous, and  thus  only  divine-human  as  the  complete  reve- 
lation of  the  God-man. 

In  this  respect  Biblical  Theology  demands  its  place  in 
theological  study  as  the  highest  attainment  of  exegesis. 
It  is  true  that  it  has  been  claimed  that  the  history  of 
Biblical  Doctrine,  as  a  subordinate  branch  of  Historical 
Theology,  fully  answers  its  purpose ;  and  again,  that 
Biblical  Dogmatics,  as  the  fundamental  part  of  System- 
atic Theology,  covers  its  ground.  These  branches  of  the 
sister  grand  divisions  of  theology  deal  with  many  of  its 
questions  and  handle  much  of  its  material,  for  the  reason 
that  Biblical  Theology  is  the  highest  point  of  exegesis 
where  the  most  suitable  transition  is  made  to  the  other 
departments  ;  but  it  does  not,  it  cannot,  belong  to  either 
of  them.  As  Biblical  Theology  was  not  the  product  of 
Historical  or  Systematic  Theology,  but  was  born  in  the 
throes  of  the  exegetical  process  of  the  last  centur}-,  so 
it  is  the  child  of  exegesis,  and  can  flourish  only  in  its 
own  home.  The  idea,  methods,  aims,  and,  indeed,  re- 
sults, are  entirely  different  from  those  presented  in  the 
above-mentioned  parts  of  Historical  and  Systematic 
Theology.  It  does  not  give  us  a  history  oi  doctrine,  al- 
though it  uses  the  historical  method  in  the  unfolding  of 
the  doctrine.  It  does  not  seek  the  history  of  the  doc- 
trine, but  the  formation,  the  organization  of  the  doctrine 


♦  EXEGETICAL  THEOLOGY.  39 

in  history.  It  does  not  aim  to  present  the  systematic 
theology  of  the  Bible,  and  thus  arrange  biblical  doc- 
trine in  the  form  that  Systematic  Theology  must  assume 
for  the  purposes  of  the  day ;  but  in  accordance  with  its 
synthetic  method  of  seeking  the  unity  in  the  variety, 
it  endeavors  to  show  the  biblical  system  of  doctrine,  the 
form  assumed  by  theology  in  the  Bible  itself,  the  organ- 
ization of  the  doctrines  of  faith  and  morals  in  the  his- 
torical divine  revelation.  It  thus  considers  the  doctrine 
at  its  first  historical  appearance,  examines  its  formation 
and  its  relation  to  others  in  the  structure,  then  traces 
its  unfolding  in  history,  sees  it  evolving  by  its  own  in- 
herent vitality,  as  well  as  receiving  constant  accretions, 
ever  assuming  fuller,  richer,  grander  proportions,  until 
in  the  revelation  of  the  New  Testament  the  organiza- 
tion has  become  complete  and  finished.  It  thus  not 
only  distinguishes  a  theology  of  periods,  but  a  theology 
of  authors  and  writings,  and  shows  how  they  harmonize 
in  the  one  complete  revelation  of  God.*  It  is  only  from 
this  elevated  point  of  view  that  many  important  ques- 
tions can  be  settled,  such  as  the  Relation  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tajuent  to  the  New  Testament — .1  fundamental  question 
for  all  departments  of  theology.  It  is  only  when  we 
recognize  the  New  Testament  as  not  only  the  historical 
fulfilment  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  also  as  its  exe- 
getical  completion,  that  the  unity  and  the  harmony,  all 
the  grander  for  the  variety  and  the  diversity  of  the 
Scriptures,  become  evident.  It  is  only  from  this  point 
of  view  that  the  apparently  contradictory  views,  as,  for 
instance,  of  Paul  and  James,  in  the  article  of  justifica- 


*  See  author's  articles  on  Biblical  Theology,  in  American  Presbyterian  Re- 
view, 1870,  and  in  the  Presbyterian  Review,  1882,  and  Chapter  XI.  of  this 
volume. 


40  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

tion,  may  be  reconciled  in  their  difference  of  types.  It 
is  only  here  that  a  true  doctrine  of  inspiration  can  be 
given,  properly  distinguishing  the  divine  and  human 
elements,  and  yet  recognizing  them  in  their  union.  It 
is  only  thereby  that  the  weight  of  authority  of  the 
Scripture  can  be  fully  felt,  and  the  consistency  of  the 
infallible  canon  invincibly  maintained.  It  is  only  in 
this  culminating  work  that  the  preliminary  processes  of 
exegesis  are  delivered  from  all  the  imperfections  and 
errors  that  still  cling  to  the  most  faithful  work  of  the 
exegete.  It  is  only  from  these  hands  that  Historical 
Theology  receives  its  true  keys,  Systematic  Theology 
its  indestructible  pillars,  and  Practical  Theology  its  all- 
conquering  weapons. 

Thus  Exegetical  Theology  is  a  theological  discipline, 
which,  in  its  various  departments,  presents  an  inexhaust- 
ible field  of  labor,  where  the  most  ambitious  may  work 
with  a  sure  prospect  of  success,  and  where  the  faithful 
disciple  of  the  Lord  may  rejoice  in  the  most  intimate 
fellowship  with  the  Master,  divine  truths  being  received 
immediately  from  the  divine  hand,  old  truths  being  il- 
luminated with  fresh  meaning,  new  truths  filling  the  soul 
with  indescribable  delight.  The  Bible  is  not  a  field 
whose  treasures  have  been  exhausted,  for  they  are  inex- 
haustible. As  in  the  past,  holy  men  have  found  among 
these  treasures  jewels  of  priceless  value ;  as  Atharrasius, 
Augustine,  Anselm,  Luther,  and  Calvin,  have  derived 
therefrom  riew  doctrines  that  have  given  shape  not  only 
to  the  church,  but  to  the  world ;  so  it  is  not  too  much 
to  expect  that  even  greater  saints  than  these  may  yet 
go  forth  from  their  retirement,  where  they  have  been 
alone  in  communion  with  God  through  His  Word,  hold- 
ing up  before  the  world  some  ?iew  doctrine,  freshly  de- 


EXEGETICAJ.  THEOLOGY.  41 

rived  from  the  ancient  writings,  which,  although  hith- 
erto overlooked,  will  prove  to  be  the  necessary  comple- 
ment of  all  the  previous  knowledge  of  the  church,  no 
less  essential  to  its  life,  growth,  and  progress  than  the 
Athanasian  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  the  Augustinian  doc- 
trine of  sin,  and  the  Protestant  doctrine  of  justification 
through  faith. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

'  The  languages  of  the  Bible  were  prepared  by  Divine 
Providence  as  the  most  suitable  ones  for  declaring  the 
^iiivine  revelation  to  mankind.  Belonging,  as  they  do,  to 
the  two  great  families  of  speech,  the  Shemiticand  the  In- 
do-Germanic,  which  have  been  the  bearers  of  civilization, 
culture,  and  the  noblest  products  of  human  thought  and 
emotion,  they  are  themselves  the  highest  and  most  per- 
fect developments  of  those  families ;  presenting,  it  is 
true,  their  contrasted  features,  but  yet  combining  in  a 
higher  unity,  in  order  to  give  us  the  complete  divine 
revelation.  Having  accomplished  this  their  highest 
purpose,  they  soon  afterward  became  stereotyped  in 
form,  or,  as  they  are  commonly  called,  dead  languages  ; 
so  that  henceforth  all  successive  generations,  and  indeed 
all  the  families  of  earth,  might  resort  to  them  and  find 
the  common,  divine  revelation  in  the  same  fixed  and  un- 
alterable forms. 

Language  is  the  product  of  the  human  soul,  as 
are  thought  and  emotion,  and,  therefore,  depends  upon 
the  constitution  of  that  soul,  the  historical  experiences 
of  the  family  or  race  speaking  it,  especially  the  stage  of 
development  in  civilization,  morals,  and  religion.  The 
connection  between  language  and  thought  is  not  loose, 
but  an  essential  connection.  Language  is  not  merely  a 
(43) 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  43 

dress  that  thought  may  put  on  or  off  at  its  pleasure  ;  it 
is  the  body  of  which  thought  is  the  soul  ;  it  is  the  flesh 
and  rounded  form  of  which  thought  is  the  life  and  en- 
ergy. Hence  it  is  that  language  is  moulded  by  thought 
and  emotion,  by  experience  and  culture;  it  is,  as  it  were, 
the  speaking  face  of  the  race  employing  it,  and  it  be- 
comes the  historical  monument  of  the  experience  of  that 
race ;  so  that  in  many  nations  that  have  perished,  and 
'vhose  early  history  is  lost  in  primeval  darkness,  their 
language  gives  us  the  key  to  their  history  and  experi- 
ence as  truly  as  the  Parthenon  tells  us  of  the  Greek 
mind,  and  the  Pyramids  of  the  Egyptian. 

It  is  not  a  matter  of  indifference,  therefore,  as  to  the 
languages  that  were  to  bear  the  divine  revelation ;  for, 
alt  lough  the  divine  revelation  was  designed  for  all  races, 
and  may  be  conveyed  in  all  the  languages  of  earth,  yet, 
inasmuch  as  it  was  delivered  in  advancing  historical  de- 
velopment, certain  particular  languages  must  be  em- 
ployed as  most  suitable  for  the  purpose,  and  indeed 
those  which  could  best  become  the  fountains  for  en- 
riching the  various  languages  of  the  earth.  Hence  it  is 
that, we  can  confidently  claim  that  there  are  no  lan- 
guages— not  even  the  English  and  the  German,  which 
have  drunk  deepest  from  the  classic  springs  of  the  He- 
brew and  the  Greek — that  there  are  no  languages  that 
could  so  adequately  convey  the  divine  revelation  in  its 
simfHicity,  grandeur,  fulness,  variety,  power  and  impres- 
siveuess,  as  those  selected  by  Divine  Providence  for  the 
purpose. 

Hence  it  is  that  no  translation  can  ever  take  the  place 
of  trie  original  Scriptures ;  for  a  translation  is,  at  the 
bcstj  the  work  of  uninspired  men,  who,  though  holy 
and  [faithful,  and  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  are  yet 
unable  to  do  more  than  give  us  their  own  interpretation 


44  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

of  the  sacred  oracles.  They  must  enter  into  the  very 
spirit  and  atmosphere  of  the  original  text ;  they  must 
think  and  feel  with  the  original  authors ;  their  hearts 
must  throb  with  the  same  emotion ;  their  minds  must 
move  in  the  same  lines  of  thinking;  they  must  adapt 
themselves  to  the  numerous  types  of  character  coming 
from  various  and  widely  different  periods  of  divine  rev- 
elation, in  order  to  correctly  apprehend  the  thought 
and  make  it  their  own,  and  then  reproduce  it  in  a  foreign 
tongue.  A  mere  external,  grammatical,  and  lexico- 
graphical translation  is  worthless.  Unless  the  spirit  of 
the  original  has  been  not  only  apprehended,  but  con- 
veyed, it  is  no  real  translation.  Hence  it  is  requisite 
that  all-sided  men  should  be  chosen  for  this  work,  or  at 
least  a  body  of  men  representing  the  various  types  ^-.nd 
phases  of  human  experience  and  character.  But  even 
then  the  translation  can  only  express  the  theological, 
ethical,  and  practical  conceptions  of  the  holiest  and 
most  learned  men  of  the  particular  age ;  and,  inasmuch 
as  the  divine  revelation  was  given  through  holy  men 
who  spake  not  only  from  their  own  time  and  for  their 
own  time,  but  from  and  for  the  timeless  Spirit,  the  eter- 
nal ideas  for  all  time ;  the  advancing  generations  will 
ever  need  to  understand  the  Word  of  God  better  than 
their  fathers,  and  must,  if  they  are  faithful,  continyally 
improve  in  their  knowledge  of  the  original  Scriptures, 
in  their  power  of  apprehending  them,  of  appropriating 
them,  and  of  reproducing  them  in  speech  and  life.    ■ 

How  important  it  is,  therefore,  if  the  church  is  to 
maintain  a  living  connection  with  the  sacred  Scriptures, 
and  enter  ever  deeper  into  their  spirit  and  mysterious 
life,  that  it  should  encourage  a  considerable  portion  of 
its  youth  to  pursue  these  studies,  and  at  all  events  in- 
sist that  its  ministry,  who  are  to  train  it  in  the  thfings 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  45 

of  God,  should  have  not  merely  a  superficial  knowledge 
of  the  Bible,  such  as  any  layman  may  readily  attain,  but 
a  deep  and  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  original  per- 
ennial fountains  of  truth ;  otherwise,  as  history  has  al- 
ready sufficiently  shown,  these  uninspired  versions  will 
assume  the  place  of  the  original  inspired  Word  ;  and  the 
interpretations  of  a  particular  generation  will  become 
the  stereotyped  dogmas  of  many  generations,  and  the 
life  of  a  Christian  people  will  be  cut  oft"  from  its  only 
source  of  spiritual  growth,  and  a  barren  scholasticism, 
with  its  stereotyped  dogmas,  mechanical  institutions, 
and  opera  operata,  will  assume  the  place  and  importance 
of  the  divine  word  and  living  communion  with  God. 

The  languages  of  the  Bible  being  the  only  adequate 
means  of  conveying  and  perpetuating  the  divine  revela- 
tion, it  is  important  that  we  should  learn  them  not  mere- 
ly from  the  outside,  with  grammar  and  lexicon,  but  also 
from  the  inside,  from  a  proper  conception  of  the  genius 
and  life  of  these  tongues  as  employed  by  the  ancient 
saints,  and  especially  of  the  historical  genius  of  the  lan- 
guages as  the  sacred  channels  of  the  Spirit's  thought 
and  life.  For  language  is  a  living  thing,  and  has  its 
birth,  its  growth,  its  maturity,  its  decline,  and  its  death. 
Language  is  born,  not  as  a  system  of  roots  or  detached 
words,  that  gradually  come  together  by  natural  selection 
into  sentences.  As  plants  may  grow  from  roots  after 
they  have  been  cut  down,  but  do  not  have  their  birth  in 
roots,  but  in  the  seed-germs  which  contain  the  plants  in 
embryo ;  so  language,  although  it  may  be  analyzed  into 
roots,  yet  was  not  born  in  roots  and  never  existed  in 
roots,  but  came  into  being  as  sentences,*  as  thought  is 
ever  a  sentence,  and  not  a  word.     Then  as  the  mind  de- 


Sayce,  Principles  0/  Comp.  Philology^  p.  136,  seq.^  2d  ed.,  London,  187^. 


46  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

velops,  thought  is  developed  with  its  body,  language, 
and  thus  the  language  grows  with  the  culture  of  a  peo- 
ple. All  languages  that  have  literary  documents  can  be 
traced  in  their  historical  development.  Especially  is 
this  the  case  with  the  languages  of  the  Bible  ;  they  have 
a  long  history  back  of  them  ;  centuries  of  literary  devel- 
opment were  required  to  produce  them. 

I.    THE   HEBREW   LANGUAGE. 

The  Hebrew  language  was  long  supposed  to  be  the 
original  language  of  mankind  ;  but  this  view  can  no  lon- 
ger be  held  by  any  philologist,  for  the  Hebrew  language, 
as  it  appears  to  us  in  its  earliest  forms  in  the  sacred 
Scriptures,  bears  upon  its  face  the  traces  of  a  long-pre- 
vious literary  development.*  This  is  confirmed  by  com- 
paring it  with  the  other  languages  of  the  same  family. 
Thus  the  Shemitic  family  may  be  divided  into  four 
groups:  I.  The  Southern  group — Arabic,  Ethiopic,  and 
Himjaric.  2.  The  Aramaic  group  —  Syriac,  Chaldee, 
Samaritan,  and  Mandaic.  3.  The  Hebrew  group — the 
Phoenician  and  Hebrew.  4.  The  Assyrian  and  Babylo- 
nian. Now  these  languages  are  more  closely  related  to 
one  another  than  those  of  the  Indo-Germanic  family, 
the  people  speaking  them  having  been  confined  to  com- 
paratively narrow  limits,  crowded  on  the  north  by  the 
Indo-Germanic  tongues,  and  on  the  south  by  the  Tu- 
ranian. These  languages  are  grouped  in  sisterhoods. 
They  all  go  back  upon  an  original  mother-tongue  of 
which  all  traces  have  been  lost.  In  general  the  Arabic 
or  Southern  group  present  the  older  and  fuller  forms  of 
etymology  and  syntax,  the  Aramaic  or  Northern  group 


*  Ewald,  Gesch.  des  Volkes  Israel,  3te  Ausg. ;  Gott.,  1864,  s.  78,  seq.;  Evvald, 
Atts/.  Lehrb.  des  Heb.  Spraclte,  yte  Ausg ;  Gott.,  1863,  s,  23. 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  47 

the  later  and  simpler  forms..  The  Hebrew  and  Assyrian 
groups  lie  in  the  midst  of  this  linguistic  development, 
where  the  Assyrian  is  nearer  to  the  Southern  group 
and  the  Hebrew  to  the  Northern  group.*  The  differ- 
ences in  stage  of  linguistic  growth  from  the  common 
stock  depend  not  so  much  upon  the  period  or  distance 
of  separation  as  upon  literary  culture.  The  literary  use 
of  a  language  has  the  tendency  to  reduce  the  complex 
elements  to  order,  and  to  simplify  and  wear  away  the 
superfluous  and  unnecessary  forms  of  speech  and  syn- 
tactical construction.  These  languages  have,  for  the 
most  part,  given  us  a  considerable  literature  ;  they  were 
spoken  by  cultivated  nations  of  the  ancient  world,  me- 
diating between  the  great  centres  of  primitive  Turanian 
culture — the  Euphrates  and  the  Nile.  Everything  seems 
to  indicate  that  they  all  emigrated  from  a-  common  cen- 
tre in  the  desert  on  the  south  of  Babylonia,t  the  Arabic 
group  separating  first,  next  the  Aramaic,  then  the  He- 
brew, while  the  Babylonian  gained  ultimately  the  mas- 
tery of  the  original  Akkadian  of  Babylonia,  and  the  As- 
syrian founded  the  great  empire  on  the  Tigris.  The 
book  of  Genesis  (xi.  31)  represents  Abram  as  going  forth 
from  this  central  seat  of  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  at  first 
northward  into  Mesopotamia,  and  then  emigrating  to 
Canaan,  just  as  we  learn  from  other  sources  the  Canaan- 
ites  had  done  before  him.  The  monuments  of  Ur  reveal 
that  about  this  time,  2000  B.C.,  it  was  the  seat  of  a 
great  literary  development.:}:     The  father  of  the  faith- 


*  See  Gescnius,  Heb.  und  Chald.  Handworterbuch,  gte  Aufl.  neu  bearbeitet 
von  Mulau  und  Volck,  Leipzig,  1883.      Von  den  Quellen,  p.  xx.,  sq. 

+  Vide  Schrader,  Die  Abstammung  der  Chaldaer  und  die  Ursitze  der  Semi- 
ten,  Zeitschrift  d.  Deutsch.  M.  G.,  1873. 

X  Geo.  Smith,  T/ie  Chaldean  Account  0/  Genesis,  etc.,  p.  29,  seg.  New  York, 
1876. 


48  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

ful,  whose  origin  was  in  that  primitive  seat  of  culture, 
and  who  lived  as  a  chieftain  of  military  prowess  (Gen. 
xiv.)  and  exalted  religious  and  moral  character  among 
the  cultivated  nations  of  Canaan,  and  who  was  received  at 
the  court  of  Pharaoh  (xii.  14) — that  other  great  centre  of 
primitive  culture — on  friendly  terms,  to  some  extent  at 
least,  made  himself  acquainted  with  their  literature  and 
culture.  Whether  Abraham  adopted  the  language  of 
the  Canaanites,  or  brought  the  Hebrew  with  him  from 
the  East,  is  unimportant,  for  the  ancient  Assyrian  and 
Babylonian  are  nearer  to  the  Hebrew  and  Phoenician 
than  they  are  to  the  other  Shemitic  families,*  so  that  if 
the  languages,  as  now  presented  to  us,  differ  less  than 
the  Romance  languages — the  daughters  of  the  Latin — 
in  their  earlier  stages  in  the  time  of  Abraham,  their  dif- 
ference could  scarcely  have  been  more  than  dialectic. 
The  ancient  Phoenician,  the  nearest  akin  to  the  Hebrew, 
was  the  language  of  commerce  and  intercourse  between 
the  nations  in  primitive  times,  as  the  Aramaic  after  the 
fall  of  Tyre,  and  the  Greek  after  the  conquest  of  Alex- 
ander. Thus  the  Hebrew  language,  as  a  dialect  of  the 
Canaanite  and  closely  related  to  the  Babylonian,  had 
already  a  considerable  literary  development  prior  to 
the  entrance  of  Abram  into  the  Holy  Land.  The  old 
idea  that  Egypt  was  the  mother  of  Hebrew  civilization 
and  culture  has  been  disproved  ;  for,  though  the  Hebrews 
remained  a  long  period  in  Egyptian  bondage,  they  re- 
tained their  Eastern  civilization,  culture,  and  language, 
so  that  at  the  Exodus  they  shook  off  at  once  all  connec- 
tion with  the  Egyptian  civilization  and  culture  as  alien 
and  antagonistic  to  their  own.  For  the  very  peculiari- 
ties of  the  Hebrew  language,  literature,  and  civilization 


*  Sayce,  Assyrian  Grammar^  p.  i,  seq.    London,  1872. 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  49 

are  those  of  the  Babylonian.     The  biblical  traditions  of 
the  Creation,  of  the  Deluge,  of  the  Tower  of  Babel,  are 
those  of  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians.      The  sacred 
rest-day,  with  the  significance  of  the  number  seven,  the 
months,  seasons,  and  years,  the  weights  and  measures, 
coins — all  are  of   the  same  origin.     Still  further,  that 
most  striking  feature  of  Hebrew  poetry — the  parallelism 
of  members — is  already  in  the  oldest  Akkadian  hymns. 
Yes,  the  very  temptations  of  the  Hebrews  to  the  worship 
of  Ashtoreth  and  Baal,  of   Chemosh  and  Moloch,  are 
those  that  have  ruined  the  other  branches  of  their  com- 
mon race.*     How  shall  we  account  for  these  thins^s  un- 
less  we  suppose  that  they  were  brought  with  him  by 
Abram  in  his  emigration  to  Canaan?     Fixing  our  atten- 
tion upon  the  single  feature  of  the  parallelism  of  mem- 
bers, how  could  the  Hebrews  have  retained  it  as  the  es- 
sential feature  of  their  poetry,  if  they  had  no  poetic 
treasures  preserved  among  them,  and  the  poetic  spirit 
had  remained  undeveloped  with  them  ?     Without  ven- 
turing upon  an  opinion  with  reference  to  the  amount 
of  literature  to  be  attributed  to  these  early  times,  but. 
taking  the  Pentateuch  as  it  is,  we  see  therein  a  language 
admirably  adapted  for  its  purpose,  the  product  of  pre- 
vious literary  development.     Whether  Moses  wrote  the  1 
entire  Pentateuch  or  not,  most  scholars  will  admit  a  con-  [ 
siderable  Mosaic  nucleus.     This  being  true,  the  princi-  ' 
pies  of  language  seem  to  require  either  that  the  ancient 
records  have  been  improved  by  later  editors,  or  that 
there  must  have  been  a  body  of  sacred  literature  to  give 
the  language  that  stable  character  that  marks  it  through- 
out the  entire  sacred  Scriptures ;  for  while  there  is  cer- 
tainly a  development  in  the  Hebrew  language  of  the 


*  Vide  Schrader,  Semitismus  und  Babylonismus.    Jahrb.  v.  Prot.  TheoL, 
1875. 

3 


50  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Bible,  and  three  periods  may  be  readily  distinguished, 
yet  the  differences  between  the  earlier  and  the  classic 
period  are  but  slight,  the  chief  distinguishing  features 
being  in  the  later  writings  of  the  Chronicler,  Ecclesi- 
astes,  and  Daniel,  all  showing  a  decline  from  the  classic 
models  and  an  approximation  to  the  Aramaic,  in  ety- 
mology and  syntax.  Sacred  books  give  languages  a 
permanence  such  as  no  other  literature  can  give  them. 
This  is  evident  not  only  from  the  German  Bible  of  Luther, 
and  King  James'  English  version,  which  have  kept  these 
great  languages  comparatively  stationary,  but  also  from 
the  Koran,  which  has  kept  the  Arabic  so  fixed  to  its 
classic  style  that  it  has  taken  a  thousand  years  for  the 
vulgar  Arabic  to  reach  that  stage  of  linguistic  develop- 
ment presented  in  the  earliest  Hebrew  of  the  Bible. 
Hence  unless  the  language  of  the  writings  of  Moses  has 
been  changed  by  later  editors,  at  least  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  Pentateuch  must  be  assigned  to  his  times. 
'•  Moses  is  the  father  of  the  Hebrew  language  and  litera- 
j  ture,  as  Luther  is  of  the  German.  He  moulded  its  fun- 
'  damental  types,  and  started  it  in  those  directions  that  it 
has  ever  since  maintained.  As  Abraham  had  gone  forth 
from  the  culture  of  Babylonia  to  enter  upon  the  pilgrim 
life  of  believing  communion  with  El  Shaddai,  so  Moses 
went  forth  from  the  culture  of  Egypt  to  become  the 
representative  of  Jahvek,  and  organize  a  kingdom  of 
priests,  a  holy  nation,  a  theocracy  the  vital  principles  of 
which  became  reverential  fear  and  worship  of  the  per- 
sonal God  of  the  covenant. 

Thus  the  Hebrew  language  became,  in  its  essential 
spirit  and  genius,  a  religious  language,  the  holy  tongue 
of  the  holy  people  of  God,  and  Moses  laid  its  founda- 
tions in  a  literature  of  sacred  history,  poetry,  and  proph- 
ecy.    The  histories  contained  in  the  Pentateuch  are  the 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  51 

fountain  of  all  subsequent  history.  The  grand  hymn 
(Exod.  XV.),  the  prayer  (Ps.  xc),  the  prophetic  didactic 
poem  (Deut.  xxxii.),  are  the  great  boughs  of  lyric  poetry 
upon  which  the  Psalter  subsequently  burst  forth  in  all 
its  glory ;  and  the  prophetic  discourses  in  Deuteronomy 
are  the  sources,  as  they  give  the  key  to  all  subsequent , 
prophecy. 

Looking  now  at  the  language  as  religious  according 
to  its  genius,  and  considering  it  in  its  fundamental  types 
and  their  historical  development,  we  observe  the  follow- 
ing as  some  of  its  most  prominent  characteristics  : 

I.  It  is  remarkably  simple  and  natural.  This  is  indeed 
a  common  feature  of  the  Shemitic  family.  As  compared 
with  the  Indo-Germanic,  they  represent  an  earlier  stage 
in  the  development  of  mankind,  the  childhood  of  the 
race.  Theirs  is  an  age  of  perception,  contemplation,  and 
observation,  not  of  conception,  reflection,  and  reasoning. 
Things  are  apprehended  according  to  their  appearance 
as  phenomena,  and  not  according  to  their  internal  char- 
acter as  noumena.  The  form,  the  features,  the  expres- 
sions of  things  are  seen  and  most  nicely  distinguished, 
but  not  their  inward  being  ;  the  effects  are  observed,  but 
these  are  not  traced  through  a  series  of  causes,  but  only 
either  to  the  immediate  cause  or  else  by  a  leap  to  the 
ultimate  cause.  Hence  the  language  that  expresses  such 
thought  is  simple  and  natural.  We  see  this  in  its  sounds, 
which  are  simple  and  manifold,  disliking  diphthongs  and 
compound  letters ;  in  its  roots,  uniformly  of  three  con- 
sonants, generally  accompanied  by  a  vowel ;  in  its  in- 
flections, mainly  by  internal  modifications  ;  in  its  simple 
arrangement  of  clauses  in  the  sentence,  with  a  limited 
number  of  conjunctions.  Thus  the  conjunction  vav 
plays  a  more  important  part  in  the  language  than  all 
conjunctions  combined,  distinguishing  by  a  simple  mod- 


52  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

ification  of  vocalization,  accentuation,  or  position,  be 
tween  clauses  coordinate,  circumstantial,  or  subordinate, 
and  in  the  latter  between  those  indicating  purpose,  or 
result.  This  is  the  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  lan- 
guage, without  a  parallel  in  any  other  tongue.  And  so 
the  poetry  is  constructed  on  the  simple  principle  of  the 
parallelism  of  members,  these  being  synthetic,  antithetic, 
or  progressive  ;  and  in  the  latter  case  advancing,  like  the 
waves  of  the  sea,  in  the  most  beautiful  and  varied  forms. 
Hence  it  is  that  the  Hebrew  language  is  the  easiest  to 
render  into  a  foreign  tongue,  and  that  Hebrew  poetry 
can  readily  be  made  the  common  property  of  mankind. 

2.  We  observe  a  striking  correspondence  of  the  lan- 
guage to  the  thought.  This  rests  upon  a  radical  difference 
between  the  Shemitic  and  Indo-Germanic  family  in  their 
relative  appreciation  of  the  material  and  the  form  of  lan- 
guage.* The  form,  the  artistic  expression,  is  to  the 
Hebrew  a  very  small  affair.  The  idea,  the  thought,  and 
emotion  flow  forth  freely  and  embody  themselves  with- 
out any  external  restraint  in  the  speech.  This  is  clear 
from  the  method  of  inflection,  which  is  mostly  by  inter- 
nal changes  in  the  root,  expressing  the  passive  by  chang- 
ing the  clear  vowel  into  the  dull  vowel,  the  intensive  by 
doubling  the  second  radical,  the  pure  idea  of  the  root  by 
the  extreme  shortness  of  the  infinitive  and  the  segholate, 
the  causative  and  the  reflexive  by  lengthening  the  stem 
from  without,  and,  so  far  as  cases  and  moods  exist,  ex- 
pressing them  harmoniously  by  the  three  radical  short 
vowels. 

How  beautiful  in  form,  as  well  as  sense,  is  the  abstract 
plural  of  intensity  by  which  Elohi7n  expresses  the  fulness 


*  Vid.  Grill,  iiber  d.  Verhiiltniss  d.  indogerm.  u.  d.  semit.  Sprachivurzeln 
in  the  Zeitschri/t  D.  M.  G.  1873. 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  53 

of  the  idea  of  God  conceived  as  the  one  to  be  revered  ; 
by  which  chayyim  expresses  the  fulness  of  life,  and 
which  is  employed  in  such  passages  as  Eccles.  v.  8, 
where  the  exaltation  of  God  over  all  earthly  judges 
would  be  represented, 

"  For  high  over  high  watcheth 
The  Highest  over  them." 

So  in  the  dependence  of  the  construct  relation,  and  the 
use  of  the  suffixes.  But  perhaps  this  feature  is  most 
striking  in  Hebrew  poetry  where  the  absence  of  an  ar- 
tistic form  is  more  apparent.  We  see  that,  with  a  gen- 
eral harmony  of  lines  and  strophes,  the  proportion  in 
length  and  number  is  frequently  broken  through.  And 
though  the  Hebrew. poet  uses  the  refrain,  yet  he  likes 
to  modify  it,  as  in  the  lament  of  David  over  Jonathan, 
2  Sam.  i.  19-27,  the  80th  Psalm,  and  the  magnificent 
prophecy,  Isaiah  40-66.  Again,  though  the  Hebrew 
poet  uses  the  alphabet  to  give  his  lines  or  strophes  a 
sort  of  regularity  in  order,  using  it  as  so  many  stairs  up 
which  to  climb  in  praise,  in  pleading,  in  lamentation, 
and  in  advancing  instruction,  yet  he  by  no  means  binds 
himself  to  an  equal  number  of  lines,  or  even  measure  of 
length ;  and,  apparently  without  necessity  at  times, 
breaks  through  his  alphabet  itself.  Free  as  the  ocean  is 
the  poet's  emotion,  rising  like  the  waves  in  majestic 
strivings,  heaving  as  an  agitated  sea,  ebbing  and  flowing 
like  the  tide  in  solemn  and  measured  antitheses,  sporting 
like  the  wavelets  upon  a  sandy  beach. 

3.  The  Hebrew  language  has  a  wonderful  majesty  and 
sublimity.  This  arises  partly  from  its  original  religious 
genius,  but  chiefly  from  the  subhme  materials  of  its 
thought.  God,  the  only  true  God,  JAHVEH,  the  Holy 
Redeemer  of  His  people,  is  the  central  theme  of  the 


54  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Hebrew  language  and  literature,  a  God  not  apart  from 
nature,  and  not  involved  in  nature,  no  Pantheistic  God, 
no  mere  Deistic  God,  but  a  God  who  enters  into  sym- 
pathetic relations  with  His  creatures,  who  is  recognized 
and  praised,  as  well  as  ministered  unto  by  the  material 
creation.  Hence  there  is  a  realism  in  the  Hebrew  lan- 
guage that  can  nowhere  else  be  found  to  the  same  ex- 
tent. The  Hebrew  people  were  as  realistic  as  the  Greek 
were  idealistic.  Their  God  is  not  a  God  thought  out, 
reasoned  out  as  an  ultimate  cause,  or  chief  of  a  Pan- 
theon, but  a  personal  God,  known  by  them  in  His  asso- 
ciation with  them  by  a  proper  name,  Jahveh.  Hence 
the  so-called  anthropomorphisms  and  anthropopathisms 
of  the  Old  Testament,  so  alien  to  the  Indo-Germanic 
mind  that  an  Occidental  theology  must  explain  them 
away,  from  an  incapacity  to  enter  into  that  bold  and 
sublime  realism  of  the  Hebrews.  Thus,  again,  man  is 
presented  to  us  in  all  his  naked  reality,  in  his  weakness 
and  sins,  in  his  depravity  and  wretchedness,  as  well  as 
in  his  bravery  and  beauty,  his  holiness  and  wisdom.  In 
the  Hebrew  heroes  we  see  men  of  like  passions  with 
ourselves,  and  feel  that  their  experience  is  the  key  to 
the  joys  and  sorrows  of  our  life.  So  also  in  their  con- 
ception of  nature.  Nature  is  to  the  Hebrew  poet  all 
aglow  with  the  glory  of  God,  and  intimately  associated 
with  man  in  his  origin,  history,  and  destiny.  There  is 
no  such  thing  as  science ;  that  was  for  the  Indo-Germanic 
mind  ;  but  they  give  us  that  which  science  never  gives, 
that  which  science  is  from  its  nature  unable  to  present 
us  :  namely,  those  concrete  relations,  those  expressive 
features  of  nature  that  declare  to  man  their  Master's 
mind  and  character,  and  claim  human  sympathy  and 
protection  as  they  yearn  with  man  for  the  Messianic  fut- 
ure.    Now  the  Hebrew  language  manifests  this  realism 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE,  55 

on  its  very  face.  Its  richness  in  synonyms  is  remarka- 
ble. It  is  said  that  the  Hebrew  language  has,  relatively 
to  the  English,  ten  times  as  many  roots  and  ten  times 
fewer  words;*  and  that  while  the  Greek  language  has 
1,800  roots  to  100,000  words,  the  Hebrew  has  2,000  roots 
to  10,000  words.f  This  wealth  in  synonyms  is  appal- 
ling to  the  Indo'-Germanic  scholar  who  comes  to  the 
Hebrew  from  the  Latin  and  the  Greek,  where  the  syno- 
nyms are  more  or  less  accurately  defined.  But  nothing 
of  the  kind  has  yet  been  done  by  any  Shemitic  scholar, 
so  far  as  we  know.  What  will  you  do  with  a  language  \ 
that  has  fifty-five  words  for  destroy,  sixty  for  break,  and 
seventy-four  for  take^X  ^^  ^s  exceedingly  doubtful 
whether  this  richness  of  synonyms  can  be  reduced  to  a 
system  and  the  terms  sharply  and  clearly  defined  ;  the 
differences  are  like  those  of  the  peculiar  gutturals  of  the 
Shemitic  tongues,  so  delicate  and  subtle  that  they  can 
hardly  be  mastered  by  the  Western  tongue  or  ear.  So 
these  synonyms  can  hardly  be  apprehended  and  con- 
veyed into  languages  so  poor  when  compared  with  such 
wealth. 

This  wealth  of  synonym  is  connected  with  a  corre- 
sponding richness  of  expression  in  the  synonymous 
clauses  that  play  such  an  important  part  in  Hebrew  po- 
etry, and  indeed  are  the  reason  of  its  wonderful  richness 
and  majesty  of  thought.  Thus  the  sacred  poet  or 
prophet  plays  upon  his  theme  as  upon  a  many-stringed 
instrument,  bringing  out  a  great  variety  of  tone  and 
melody,  advancing  in  graceful  steppings  or  stately  march- 
ings to  the  climax,  or  dwelling  upon  the  theme  with  an 


*  Grill,  in  /.  c. 

t  Bottcher,  Ausf.  Lehrbuch  d.  Heb.  Sprache,  I ,  p.  8.    Leipzig,  1866. 

X  Girdlestone,  Synonyms  0/ the  Old  Test.,  p.  15.    London,  1871. 


56  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Inexhaustible  variety  of  expression  and  coloring.  The 
Hebrew  language  is  like  the  rich  and  glorious  verdure  of 
Lebanon,  or  as  the  lovely  face  of  the  Shulamite,  dark  as 
the  tents  of  Kedar,  yet  rich  in  color  as  the  curtains  of 
Solomon,  or  her  graceful  form,  which  is  so  rapturously 
described  as  she  discloses  its  beauties  in  the  dance  of  the 
hosts.*  It  is  true  that  Hebrew  literature  is  not  as  exten- 
sive as  the  Greek ;  it  is  confined  to  history,  poetry,  proph- 
i.  ecy,  and  possibly  romance  ;  f  but  in  these  departments  it 
J  presents  the  grandest  productions  of  the  human  soul.  Its 
history  gives  us  the  origin  and  destiny  of  our  race,  un- 
folds the  story  of  redemption,  dealing  now  with  the  in- 
dividual, then  with  the  family  and  nation,  and  at  times 
widening  so  as  to  take  into  its  field  of  representation  the 
most  distant  nations  of  earth ;  it  is  a  history  in  which 
God  is  the  great  actor,  in  which  sin  and  holiness  are  the 
chief  factors.  Its  poetry  stirs  the  heart  of  mankind  with 
hymns  and  prayers,  with  sentences  of  wisdom ;  and  in 
the  heroic  struggles  of  a  Job  and  the  conquering  virtue 
of  a  Shulamite,  there  is  imparted  strength  to  the  soul 
and  vigor  to  the  character  of  man  and  woman  transcend- 
ing the  influence  of  the  godlike  Achilles  or  the  chaste 
Lucretia ;  while  the  second  half  of  Isaiah  presents  the 
sublimest  aspirations  of  man.  Where  shall  we  find  such 
images  of  beauty,  such  wealth  of  illustration,  such  grand- 
eur of  delineation,  such  majestic  representations  ?  It 
seems  as  if  the  prophet  grasped  in  his  tremendous  soul 
the  movements  of  the  ages,  and  saw  the  very  future 
mirrored  in  the  mind  of  God. 

4.  The  Hebrew  language  is  remarkable  for  its  life  and 
fervor.  This  is  owing  to  the  emotional  and  hearty  char- 
acter of  the  people.     There  is  an  artlessness,  self-aban- 


*  Song  of  Songs,  L  s ;  vii.  1-7.  t  See  Chapters  VIII.  and  IX. 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  57 

donment,  and  earnestness  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  ;  it  is 
transparent  as  a  glass,  so  that  we  see  through  it  as  into 
th,e  very  souls  of  the  people.  There  is  none  of  that  re- 
serve, that  cool  and  calm  deliberation,  that  self-conscious- 
ness that  characterize  the  Greek.*  The  Hebrew  language 
is  distinguished  by  the  strength  of  its  consonants  and  the 
weakness  of  its  vowels ;  so  that  the  consonants  give  the 
word  a  stability  of  form  in  which  the  vowels  have  the 
greatest  freedom  of  movement.  The  vowels  circulate 
in  the  speech  as  the  blood  of  the  language.  Hence  the 
freedom  in  the  varying  expressions  of  the  same  root  and 
the  fervor  of  its  full-toned  forms.  And  if  we  can  trust 
the  Massoretic  system  of  accentuation  and  vocalization, 
the  inflection  of  the  language  depends  upon  the  dislike  of 
the  recurrence  of  two  vowelless  consonants,  and  the  law 
of  the  vocal  sheva  and  the  half-open  syllable  ;  and  on  the 
power  of  the  accent  over  the  vocalization  not  only  of  the 
accented  syllable,  but  also  of  the  entire  word,  and  the  law 
of  the  pretonic  Qdinetz.  This  gives  the  language  a  won- 
derful flexibility  and  elasticity.  In  the  Hebrew  tongue 
the  emotions  overpower  the  thoughts  and  carry  them  on 
in  the  rushing  stream  to  the  expression.  Hence  the  lit- 
erature has  a  power  over  the  souls  of  mankind.  The 
language  is  as  expressive  of  emotion  as  the  face  of  a 
mode^  and  untutored  child,  and  the  literature  is  but  the 
speaking  face  of  the  heart  of  the  Hebrew  people.  The 
Psalms  of  David  touch  a  chord  in  every  soul,  and  inter- 
pret the  experience  of  all  the  world.  The  sentences 
of  Solomon  come  to  us  as  the  home-truths,  as  the  social 
and  political  maxims  that  sway  our  minds  and  direct  our 
lives.    The  prophets  present  to  us  the  objective  omnipo- 


*  Ewald,  in  /.  c,  p,  33;  Bottcher,  in  /.  r.,  p.  9.      Bertheau,  in  Herzog,  Real. 
EncychJ>ad,'e,  I.,  Auji.  Bd,  v.,  p.  613. 

3* 


58  BIBLICAL  STUDr. 

tent  truth,  which,  according  to  the  beautiful  story  of 
Zerubbabel,*  is  the  mightiest  of  all,  flashing  conviction 
like  the  sun  and  cutting  to  the  heart  as  by  a  sharp  t\Aio- 
edged  sword.  So  with  the  history ;  it  presents  to  us  the 
simple  facts  of  the  lives  of  individuals  and  of  nations  in 
the  light  of  the  Divine  countenance,  speaking  to  our 
hearts  and  photographing  upon  us  pictures  of  real  life. 

These  are  some  of  the  most  striking  features  of  the 
Hebrew  language,  which  have  made  it  the  most  suitable 
of  all  to  give  to  mankind  the  elementary  religious  truths 
and  facts  of  divine  revelation.  The  great  body  of  the 
Bible,  four-fifths  of  the  sum  total  of  God's  Word,  is  in 
this  tongue.  It  is  no  credit  to  a  Christian  people  that 
;  the  Hebrew  language  has  no  place  at  all  in  the  most  of 
/  our  colleges  and  universities ;  that  its  study  has  been 
confined,  for  the  most  part,  to  theological  seminaries 
and  the  students  for  the  ministry.  It  is  not  strange 
i  that  the  Old  Testament  has  been  neglected  in  the  pul- 
pit, the  Sabbath-school,  and  the  family,  so  that  many 
minds,  even  of  the  ministry,  have  doubted  whether  it 
was  any  longer  to  be  regarded  as  the  Word  of  God.  It 
is  not  strange  that  Christian  scholars,  prejudiced  by 
their  training  in  the  languages  and  literatures  of  Greece 
and  Rome\  should  be  unable  to  enter  into  the  spirit,  and 
appreciate  the  peculiar  features  of  the  Hebrew  language 
and  literature,  and  so  fail  to  understand  the  elements  of 
a  divine  revelation.  Separating  the  New  Testament 
and  the  words  and  work  of  Jesus  and  His  apostles  from 
their  foundation  and  their  historical  preparation,  stu- 
dents have  not  caught  the  true  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  nor 
apprehended  it  in  its  unity  and  variety  as  the  fulfilment 
of  the  law  and  the  prophets.     But  this  is  not  all,  for 


*  I.  Esdras  iv.  33-41. 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  59 

we  shall  now  attempt  to  show  that  the  other  languages 
of  the  Bible,  the  Aramaic  and  the  Greek,  have  been 
moulded  and  transformed  by  the  theological  concep- 
tions and  moral  ideas  that  had  been  developing  in  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  which,  having  been  ripened 
under  the  potent  influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  were 
about  to  burst  forth  into  bloom  and  eternal  fruitfulness 
in  these  tongues  prepared  by  Divine  Providence  for  the 
purpose.  The  Hebrew  language  is,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
language  of  religion,  and  moulded  entirely  by  religious 
and  moral  ideas  and  emotions.  The  Greek  and  the 
Aramaic  are  of  an  entirely  different  character ;  they  were 
not,  as  the  Hebrew,  cradled  and  nursed,  trained  from 
infancy  to  childhood,  armed  and  equipped  in  their 
heroic  youth  with  divine  revelation,  but  they  were 
moulded  outside  of  the  realm  of  divine  revelation,  and 
only  subsequently  adapted  for  the  declaration  of  sacred 
truth.     And  first  this  was  the  case  with  the  Aramaic. 

II.   THE   ARAMAIC   LANGUAGE 

goes  back  in  its  history  to  the  most  primitive  times. 
It  is  the  farthest  developed  of  the  Shemitic  family, 
showing  a  decline,  a  decrepitude,  in  its  poverty  of  forms 
and  vocalization,  in  its  brevity  and  abruptness,  in  its  ple- 
onasm, and  in  its  incorporation  of  a  multitude  of  foreign 
words.  It  was  the  language  of  those  races  of  Syria  and 
Mesopotamia  that  warred  with  the  Egyptians  and  Assyr- 
ians, and  possibly,  as  Gladstone  suggests,  took  part  in 
the  Trojan  war,*  who,  according  to  Sayce,t  used  the 
earliest  system  of  writing,  and  were  the  agents  through 
whom  both  the  Hebrew  and  the  Greek  alphabets  were 

*  Gladstone's  Homeric  Synchronism^  N.  Y.,  1876,  p.  173. 
t  The  Hamathite  Inscriptions,  Trans,  Society  0/  Bib.  Arcliaology,  London, 
J870,  p. 


o"- 


QQ  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

conveyed  to  those  peoples.  At  all  events  the  Aramaic 
became  the  language  of  commerce  and  intercourse  be- 
tween the  nations  during  the  Persian  period,*  taking  the 
place  of  the  Phoenician,  as  it  was  in  turn  supplanted  by 
the  Greek.  The  children  of  Judah  having  been  carried 
into  captivity  and  violently  separated  from  their  sacred 
places  and  the  scenes  of  their  history,  gradually  acquired 
this  commercial  and  common  language  of  intercourse, 
so  that  ere  long  it  became  the  language  of  the  Hebrew 
people,  the  knowledge  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  being  con- 
fined to  the  learned  and  the  higher  ranks  of  society. 
Hence,  even  in  the  books  of  Ezra  and  Daniel,  consider- 
able portions  were  written  in  Aramaic.  This  Aramaic  is 
called  the  Biblical  Chaldee,  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
Chaldee  of  the  Targums,  but  really  gives  us  an  older 
type  of  the  language. 

The  Aramaic  continued  to  be  the  language  of  the  Jews 
during  the  Persian,  Greek,  and  Roman  periods,  and  was 
the  common  speech  of  Palestine  in  the  times  of  our 
Lordjf  although  it  had  long  ceased  to  be  the  language  of 
commerce  and  intercourse,  the  Greek  having  taken  its 
place,  which  gradually  penetrated  from  the  commercial 
and  official  circles  even  to  the  lowest  ranks  of  society. 
Thus  there  was  a  mingling  of  a  Greek  population  with 
the  Shemitic  races,  not  only  in  the  Greek  colonies  of 
the  Decapolis  and  the  cities  of  the  sea-coast  of  Palestine, 
but  also  in  the  great  centres  of  Tiberias,  Samaria,  and 
even  in  Jerusalem  itself.  Greek  manners  and  customs 
were,  under  the  influence  of  the  Herodians  and  the  Sad- 
ducees,  pressing  upon  the  older  Aramaic  and  Hebrew, 


*  It  must  also  have  been  widely  spoken  in  the  Assyrian  period,  as  we  see  from 
II.  Kings  xviii.  ii ;  see  also  Fried.  Delitzsch,  »V  Z,a^  das  Paradies.  Leipzig, 
1881,  p.  258. 

t  Schurer,  Neutestament.  Zeitgesch.,  p.  372,  Leipzig,  1874. 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  gl 

not  without  the  stout  resistance  of  the  Pharisees.  The 
language  of  our  Saviour,  however,  in  which  He  deh'vered 
His  discourses  and  instructions,  was  undoubtedly  the 
Aramaic,  although  we  could  hardly  deny  Him  the 
knowledge  and  use  of  the  Greek.  For  not  only  do  the 
Aramaic  terms  that  He  used,  which  are  retained  at 
times  by  the  evangelists,  and  the  proper  names  of  His 
disciples,  but  also  the  very  structure  and  style  of  His 
discourses,  show  the  Aramaic  characteristics.  For  our 
Saviour's  methods  of  delivery  and  style  of  instruction 
were  essentially  the  same  as  those  of  the  rabbins  of 
His  time.  Hence  we  should  not  think  it  strange,  that 
from  this  Aramaic  literature  alone  we  can  bring  forward 
parallels  to  the  wise  sentences  and  moral  maxims  of  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  rich  and  beautiful  parables, 
by  which  He  illustrated  His  discourses,  and  the  fiery 
zeal  of  His  denunciation  of  hypocrisy,  together  with  the 
profound  depths  of  His  esoteric  instruction.  Our  Saviour 
used  the  Aramaic  language  and  methods,  in  order  there- 
by to  reach  the  people  of  His  times,  and  place  in  the 
prepared  Aramaic  soil  the  precious  seeds  of  heavenly 
truth.  It  is  the  providential  significance  of  the  Ara- 
maic language  that  it  thus  prepared  the  body  for  the 
thought  of  our  Saviour.  It  is  a  language  admirably 
adapted  by  its  simplicity,  perspicuity,  precision,  and 
definiteness,  with  all  its  awkwardness,  for  the  associa- 
tions of  every-day  life.  It  is  the  language  for  the  lawyer 
and  the  scribe,  the  pedagogue  and  the  pupil ;  indeed,  the 
English  language  of  the  Shemitic  family.*  Thus  the 
earlier  Aramaic  of  the  Bible  gives  us  only  ofificial  docu- 
ments, letters,  and  decrees,  or  else  simple  narrative. 
As  moulded  by  the  Jewish  people  after  the  return  from 


*  Volck  in  Herzog's  Real  Encyklopadie,  IL  Aufl.  i,  p.  603. 


g2  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

exile,  it  was  through  the  giving  of  the  sense  of  the 
original  Hebrew  Scriptures  (Neh.  viii.  8).  The  whole 
life  of  the  Jewish  people,  subsequent  to  the  exile,  was 
in  this  giving  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  both 
in  the  Halacha  of  the  rabbinical  schools,  and  the  Haggada 
of  the  synagogue  and  the  social  circle.  It  is  true  that 
the  Halacha  was  developed  in  the  rival  schools  of  Sham- 
mai  and  Hillel  into  the  most  subtle  questions  of  casu- 
istry, and  our  Saviour  often  severely  reproved  the  Phar- 
isaic spirit  for  its  subtlety  and  scholasticism ;  yet  not 
infrequently  He  employed  their  methods  to  the  discom- 
fiture of  His  opponents,*  as  in  Matt.  xxii.  1 5-46,  although 
His  own  spirit  was  rather  that  of  the  old  prophets  than 
of  the  scribes.  The  Haggada  was  developed  by  the  rab- 
bins into  a  great  variety  of  forms  of  ethical  wisdom  and 
legend.  This  we  see  already  in  the  apocryphal  books 
of  Wisdom,  in  the  stories  of  Zerubbabel,  of  Judith,  of 
Susanna,  and  of  Tobit.f  This  latter  method  was  the 
favorite  one  of  our  Saviour,  as  calculated  for  the  com- 
mon people,  and  to  it  we  may  attribute  the  parables,  and 
the  sweet  sentences  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  which, 
though  after  the  manner  of  the  scribes,!  have  yet  a 
clearness  and  transparency  as  the  atmosphere  of  the 
Holy  Land  itself,  a  richness  and  simplicity  as  the  scarlet 
flower  of  the  fields  He  loved  so  well,  a  calm  rhajesty 
and  profound  mystery  as  the  great  deep,  for  He  was  the 


*  Weissacker,  Uniersuchungen  uber  die  cv.  Gescliichte,  p.  358,  seg.,  Gotha, 
1864. 

t  Zunz,  Gottesdienstlichen  Vortrage  der  Juden,  Berlin  1832,  pp.  42,  100, 
120 ;  Etheridge,  Introduction  to  Hebrew  Literature,  London,  1856,  p.  102, 
seq.  Those  who  are  interested  in  this  subject  may  find  a  large  collection  of  thLs 
Haggadistic  literature  in  the  Bibliotheca  Rabbinica,  Eiiie  Sammlung  Alter  Mid- 
raschim  ins  Deutsche  Obertragen  von  Aug.  Wunsche,  20  Lief.  Leipzig,  1880- 
84. 

\  Hausrath,  Die  Zeit  Jesus,  Heidelberg,  1868,  p.  90. 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  ^3 

expositor  of  the  Divine  mind,  heart,  and  being  to  man- 
kind (John  i.  18). 

The  office  of  the  Aramaic  language  was  still  further 
to  mediate  between  the  old  world  and  the  new — the 
Hebrew  and  the  Greek ;  for  the  Greek  language  was  the 
chosen  one  to  set  forth  the  divine  revelation  in  its  com- 
pletion. 

III.  THE   GREEK  LANGUAGE 

was  born  and  grew  to  full  maturity  outside  of  the 
sphere  of  the  divine  revelation,  and  yet  was  predestined 
"  as  the  most  beautiful,  rich,  and  harmonious  language 
ever  spoken  or  written  "  "  to  form  the  pictures  of  silver 
in  which  the  golden  apple  of  the  Gospel  should  be  pre- 
served for  all  generations."  * 

For,  as  Alexander  the  Great  broke  in  pieces  the  Ori- 
ental world-monarchies  that  fettered  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  prepared  a  theatre  for  its  world-wide  expan- 
sion, so  did  the  Greek  language  and  literature  that  his 
veterans  carried  with  them  prove  more  potent  weapons 
than  their  swords  and  spears  for  transforming  the  civili- 
zation of  the  East  and  preparing  a  language  for  the  uni- 
versal Gospel.  The  Greek  language  is  the  beautiful 
flower,  the  elegant  jewel,  the  most  finished  masterpiece 
of  Indo-Germanic  thought.  In  its  early  beginning  we 
see  a  number  of  dialects  spoken  by  a  brave  and  warlike 
people,  struggling  with  one  another,  as  well  as  with  ex- 
ternal foes,  maintaining  themselves  successfully  against 
the  Oriental  and  African  civilizations,  while  at  the  sajne 
time  they  appropriated  those  elements  of  culture  which 
they  could  incorporate  into  their  own  original  thought 
and  life  ;  a  race  of  heroes  such  as  the  earth  has  nowhere 


*  Schaff,  Hist,  of  the  Apostolic  Church,  p.  145.     New  York,  1859.     See  also 
SchafT,  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  L,  p.  78.    New  York,  18S2. 


64  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

else  produced,  fighting  their  way  upward  into  light  and 
culture  until  they  attained  the  towering  summits  of  an 
art,  a  literature,  and  a  philosophy,  that  has  ever  been 
the  admiration  and  wonder  of  mankind.  As  Pallas 
sprang  forth  in  full  heroic  stature  from  the  head  of  her 
father  Zeus,  so  Greek  literature  sprang  into  historical 
existence  in  the  matchless  Iliad.  Its  classic  period  was 
constituted  by  the  heroism  and  genius  of  the  Athenian 
republic,  which  worked  even  more  mightily  in  language, 
literature,  and  art,  than  in  the  fields  of  politics  and  war, 
producing  the  histories  of  Thucydides  and  Xenophon, 
the  tragedies  of  an  ^schylus  and  Sophocles,  the  philos- 
ophy of  a  Socrates  and  Plato,  the  oratory  of  a  Demos- 
thenes and  yEschines.  Looking  at  the  Greek  language 
before  it  became  the  world-language,  and  so  the  lan- 
guage of  a  divine  revelation,  we  observe  that  its  charac- 
teristic features  are  in  strong  contrast  with  those  of  the 
Hebrew  tongue. 

I.  The  Greek  language  is  complex  and  artistic.  As 
the  Hebrew  mind  perceives  and  contemplates,  the 
Greek  conceives  and  reflects.  Hence  the  Greek  ety- 
mology is  elaborate  in  its  development  of  forms  from  a 
few  roots,  in  the  declensions  and  cases  of  nouns,  in  the 
conjugations,  tenses,  and  moods  of  the  verb,  giving  the 
idea  a  great  variety  of  modifications.  Hence  the  syntax 
is  exceedingly  complex  in  the  varied  use  of  the  conjunc- 
tions and  particles,  the  intricate  arrangement  of  the  sen- 
tences as  they  may  be  combined  into  grand  periods, 
which  require  the  closest  attention  of  a  practiced  mind 
to  follow,  in  their  nice  discriminations  and  adjustments 
of  the  thought.*     Hence  the  complex  and  delicate  rules 


*  Curtius,  Griech.  Gesck.,  Berlin,  1865,  2d  Aufl.,  L,  pp.  19,  20;  History  of 
Greece,  New  York,  1875,  ^ol-  '•»  PP-  30»  32. 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  g5 

of  prosody,  with  the  great  variety  of  metres  and 
rhythms.  The  Greek  mind  would  wrestle  with  the  ex- 
ternal world,  would  search  out  and  explore  the  reason 
of  things,  not  being  satisfied  with  the  phenomena,  but 
grasping  for  the  noiimena.  Thus  a  rich  and  varied  litera- 
ture was  developed,  complex  in  character,  the  epos,  the 
drama,  the  philosophical  treatise,  and  scientific  discus- 
sion, which  are  purely  Greek,  and  could  have  little  place 
among  the  Hebrews.* 

2.  The  Greek  language  is  characterized  by  its  atten- 
tion to  the  form  or  style  of  its  speech,  not  to  limit  the 
freedom  of  the  movement  of  thought  and  emotion,  but 
to  direct  them  in  the  channels  of  clear,  definite,  logical 
sentences,  and  beautiful,  elegant,  and  artistic  rhetorical 
figures.  The  Greek  was  a  thorough  artist ;  and  as  the 
palaces  of  his  princes,  the  temples  of  his  gods,  the  im- 
ages of  his  worship,  his  clothing  and  his  armor,  must 
be  perfect  in  form  and  exquisite  in  finished  decora- 
tion, so  the  language,  as  the  palace,  the  dress  of  his 
thought,  must  be  symmetrical  and  elegant.f  Hence 
there  is  no  language  that  has  such  laws  of  euphony,  in- 
volving changes  in  vocalization,  and  the  transposition 
and  mutation  of  letters ;  for  their  words  must  be  musi- 
cal, their  clauses  harmonious,  their  sentences  and  periods 
symmetrical.  And  so  they  are  combined  in  the  most 
exquisite  taste  in  the  dialogues  of  the  philosopher,  the 
measures  of  the  poet,  the  stately  periods  of  the  histo- 
rian and  the  orator.  The  sentences  "  are  intricate,  com- 
plex, involved  like  an  ivory  cabinet,  till  the  discovery 
of  its  nominative  gives  you  the  key  for  unlocking  the 


*  Donaldson,  The  New  Cratylus,  3d  ed.,  p.  153. 

t  Curtius,  GrUch.  Gesch.^  L,  pp.  20,  21 ;  History  of  Greece^  New  York,  1875, 
I.,  pp.  33-34. 


66  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

mechanism  and  admiring  the  ingenuity  and  beauty  of 
its  rhetoric."  * 

3.  The  Greek  language  is  thus  beautiful  and  finished. 
The  Greek  mind  was  essentially  ideal,  not  accepting  the 
external  world  as  its  own,  but  transforming  it  to  suit  its 
genius  and  its  taste.  This  was  owing  to  its  original  hu- 
manizing genius  and  its  central  theme,  man  as  the  he- 
roic, man  as  the  ideally  perfect.f  As  the  language  and 
literature  of  the  Hebrews  were  inspired  to  describe  "  the 
righteous  acts  of  Jahveh's  dominion  in  Israel  and  the 
victories  of  his  holy  arm"  (Judges  v.  11  ;  Psa.  xcviii,  i), 
and  thus  were  majestic  and  sublime  ;  so  the  language  and 
literature  of  the  Greeks  were  to  sing  the  exploits  of  the 
godlike  Achilles,  the  crafty  Ulysses,  and  the  all-conquer- 
ing Hercules ;  to  paint  the  heroic  struggles  of  the  tribes 
at  Thermopylae,  Salamis,  and  Platea,  to  conceive  a 
model  republic  and  an  ideal  human  world,  and  thus 
were  beautiful,  stately,  and  charming.  The  gods  are  ideal- 
ized virtues  and  vices  and  powers  of  nature,  and  con- 
ceived after  the  fashion  of  heroic  men  and  women,  ar- 
ranged in  a  mythology  which  is  a  marvel  of  taste  and 
genius.  Nature  is  idealized,  and  every  plant  and  tree 
and  fountain  becomes  a  living  being.  Indeed,  every- 
thing that  the  Greek  mind  touched  it  clothed  with  its 
own  ideals  of  beauty.  Hence  the  drama  is  the  most  ap- 
propriate literature  for  such  a  people,  and  the  dialogue 
the  proper  method  of  its  philosophy.:}: 

4.  The  Greek  language  has  remarkable  strength  and 


*  W.  Adams,  Charge  on  occasion  of  the  induction  of  Dr.  Shedd  as  Pro- 
fessor of  Bib.  Literature,  New  York,  1864,  p.  10. 

+  SchafT,  Afostolic  Church,  New  York,  p.  145  ;  Zezschwitz,  Profangracitat 
und  bitlischer  Sj>rachgebrauch,  Leipzig,  1869,  p.  x^- 

X  Curtius,  Griech.  Gesch.,  III.,  p.  508 ;  History  of  Greece,  New  York,  1875, 
vol.  v.,  pp.  169,  170. 


THE  LINGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  67 

vigor.  Its  stems  have  been  compressed,  vowel  and  con- 
sonant compacted  together.  Its  words  are  complete  in 
themselves,  ending  only  in  vowels  and  the  consonants 
n,  r,  and  s ;  they  have  a  singular  independence,  as  the 
Greek  citizen  and  warrior,  and  are  protected  from  muti- 
lation and  change.*  It  is  true  it  has  a  limited  number 
of  roots,  yet  it  is  capable  of  developing  therefrom  an  in- 
definite variety  of  words ;  f  so  that  although  it  cannot 
approach  the  wealth  of  synonym  of  the  Hebrew,  yet  its 
words  are  trained  as  the  athlete,  and  capable  of  a  great 
variety  of  movements  and  striking  effects.  Its  syntax 
is  organized  on  the  most  perfect  system,  all  its  parts 
compacted  into  a  solid  mass,  in  which  the  individual  is 
not  lost,  but  gives  his  strength  to  impart  to  the  whole 
the  weight  and  invincible  push  of  the  phalanx.  Hence 
the  Greek  language  is  peculiarly  the  language  of  ora- 
tory that  would  sway  the  mind  and  conquer  with  invin- 
cible argument.  It  is  the  language  of  a  Demosthenes, 
the  model  orator  for  the  world.  It  wrestles  with  the 
mind,  it  parries  and  thrusts,  it  conquers  as  an  armed 
host. 

Such  was  the  language  with  which  Alexander  went 
forth  to  subdue  the  world,  and  which  he  made  the  com- 
mon speech  of  the  nations  for  many  generations.  It  is 
true  that  the  Greek  was  required  to  forfeit  somewhat  of 
its  elegance  and  refinement  in  its  collision  with  so  many 
barbarous  tongues,  but  it  lost  none  of  its  essential  char- 
acteristics when  it  was  adopted  by  the  Egyptian,  the 
Syrian,  and  the  Jew.  The  Jews  were  scattered  widely 
in  the  earth,  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits  that  re- 


*  Curtius,  Grieck.  Gesch.,  I.,  p.  i8;  Hist,  of  Greece,  New  York,  1875,  vol.  I., 
p.  29. 

t  Jelfs,  Greek  Gram.,  4th.  ed.,  Oxford,  1S64,  p.  330. 


gg  BIBLICAX  STUDY. 

quired  them,  above  all  others,  to  master  the  common 
speech  of  the  nations.  Hence  those  of  Europe,  Asia 
Minor,  and  Africa,  easily  adopted  the  Greek  as  their 
vernacular,  and  it  gradually  became  more  and  more  the 
language  of  Syria  and  Palestine.  This  was  furthered  by 
the  translation  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  into  the  Greek 
at  Alexandria,  the  centre  of  the  Greek  culture  of  the 
times,  a  translation  which  shows  upon  its  face  the  diffi- 
culties of  rendering  for  the  first  time  foreign  conceptions 
into  a  strange  tongue,*  but  which  nevertheless  became 
of  incalculable  importance  in  preparing  the  way  for  the 
New  Testament  writers.  The  original  productions  of 
the  Jews  of  Alexandria  and  Palestine,  many  of  which 
are  preserved  in  the  apocryphal  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, combined  to  produce  the  same  result.  Gradually 
the  Jewish  mind  was  modified  by  the  Greek  thought 
and  culture,  and  the  Greek  language  was,  on  the  other 
hand,  adapted  to  the  expression  of  Hebrew  and  Ara- 
maic conceptions.  The  apostles  of  our  Lord,  if  they 
were  to  carry  on  a  work  and  exert  an  influence,  world- 
wide and  enduring,  were  required,  from  the  very  circum- 
stances of  the  times,  to  use  the  Greek;  for  the  Aramaic 
would  have  had  but  a  narrow  and  ever-diminishing  in- 
fluence, even  if  their  labors  had  been  confined  to  the 
synagogues  of  the  dispersed  Jews.  Hence  we  are  not 
surprised  that,  without  an  exception,  so  far  as  we  know, 
the  New  Testament  writers  composed  their  works  in 
Greek,  yes,  even  gave  us  the  Aramaic  discourses  of  our 
Saviour  in  the  Greek  tongue.  Nor  was  this  without  its 
providential  purpose  ;  for  though  our  Saviour  delivered 
His  discourses  in  Aramaic,  yet  they  were   not  taken 


*  Reuss,  HellenistiscJus  Idiom,  in  Herzog,  RealencyklopidiCy    I.  Aufl.,  p. 
709,  II.,  Aufl.  p.  745. 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  ^9 

down  by  the  evangelists  as  they  heard  them  in  that 
tongue,  but  were  subsequently  recalled  to  their  minds 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  who,  in  accordance  with  the  promise 
of  our  Lord,  brought  all  things  to  their  remembrance 
(John  xiv.  26) ;  so  that  they  recalled  the  ideas,  rather  than 
the  language,  and  gave  the  ideas,  therefore,  the  Greek 
embodiment ;  and  so  we  have  no  translation  of  the  words 
of  Jesus,  but  the  words  of  Jesus  as  they  passed  through 
the  Hellenistic  conception  of  the  evangelists,  colored  by 
their  minds  and  human  characteristics  ;  *  for  it  was  evi- 
dently the  design  of  God  that  the  Saviour's  words,  as 
well  as  acts  and  His  glorious  person,  should  be  presented 
to  the  world  through  those  four  typical  evangelists,  who 
appropriately  represent  the  four  chief  phases  of  human 
character  and  experience. 

The  New  Testament  writers  used  the  common  Greek 
of  their  time,  yet  as  men  who  had  been  trained  in  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  and  in  the  Aramaic  methods  of  ex- 
position, but  above  all  as  holy  men  who  spake  as  they 
were  moved  by  the  .Holy  Spirit.  Hence,  as  the  Greek 
language  had  now  to  perform  a  work  for  which  it  had 
providentially  been  preparing,  and  yet  one  which  it  had 
never  yet  attempted,  namely,  to  convey  the  divine  rev- 
elation to  mankind,  so  it  must  be  remoulded  and  shaped 
by  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  to  express  ideas  that  were  new 
both  to  the  Greek  and  the  Jew,  but  which  had  been  de- 
veloping in  the  languages  and  literatures  of  both  nations, 
for  each  in  its  way  prepared  for  the  Gospel  of  Christ. f 
Hence  we  are  not  surprised  that  the  biblical  Greek 
should    be    distinguished     not   only    from    the    classic 


♦Winer,  New  Test.  Gram.,  Thayer's  edit.,  Andover,  1872,  p.  27;  Bleek's 
EinUit.  in  d.  N.  T.,  2d  Aud.,  Berlin,  1866,  p.  76;  Edin.,  1869,  p.  72,  seq. 

t  Schaff,  Apostolic  Church,  p.  146 ;  also  SchalT,  History  of  the  Christian 
Church,  I.,  p.  76,  seq. 


70  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

models,  but  also  from  the  literary  Greek  of  the  time, 
although  when  compared  with  the  Greek  of  the  Septua- 
gint  and  the  Apocrypha,  it  approximates  more  to  the 
literary  Greek,  being."  not  the  slavish  idiom  of  a  trans- 
lation, but  a  free,  language-creating  idiom,  without,  how- 
ever, denying  its  cradle."  *     It  is  true  that  much  of  its 
elegance  and  artistic  finish  has  been  lost,  and  the  nicely- 
rounded  sentences  and  elaborate  periods,  with  their  deli- 
cately-shaded conceptions,  have  disappeared,  yet  its  dis- 
tinguishing characteristics,  especially  its   strength   and 
beauty,  its  perspicuity,  and  its   logical  and    rhetorical 
power,  have  been  preserved,  while  to  these  have  been 
added  the  simplicity  and  richness,  the  ardor  and  glow 
of  the  Aramaic  style ;  but  over  and  above  all  these,  the 
language  has  been  employed  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and 
transformed  and  transfigured,  yes,  glorified,  with  a  light 
and  sacredness  that  the  classic  literature  never  possessed. 
It  is  true  that  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament  are 
not  all  on  the  same  level  of  style  and  language.f     The 
gospels  of  Matthew  and  Mark,  and  the  epistles  of  Peter 
and  James,  together  with  the  Apocalypse,  have  stronger 
Aramaic    coloring,  which  disturbs   the   Greek  lines   of 
beauty,  the  Greek  form  being  overpowered  by  the  life 
and  glow  of  the  Aramaic  emotion ;  yet  in  the  writings 
of  Luke  and  John,  but  especially  of  Paul  and  the  Epis- 
tle to  the  Hebrews,  the  strength  and  excellence  of  the 
Greek  unite  with  the  peculiarities  of  the  Aramaic  and 
the  Hebrew  in  striving,  under  the  potent  influence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  to  convey  the  new  religion  in  the  most 
adequate  and  appropriate  language  and  style. 


*  Reuss,  HellenistiscJus  Idiom,  in  Herzog,  I,  Aufl.,  V.,  p.  710;  II.  Aufl., 
v.,  p.  747  ;  Winer,  New  Test.  Gram.,  p.  39. 

+  Immer,  Hermeneutik  des  Neuen  Testaments,  Wittemberg,  1873,  p.  106,  seq.  ; 
Amer.  ed.,  Andover,  1S77,  P-  132  ;  Reuss,  in  /.  c,  p.  747. 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  71 

Here  the  humanizing  and  idealistic  tendencies  of  the 
Greek  combine  with  the  theological  and  realistic  tenden- 
cies of  the  Hebrew  and  the  Aramaic ;  for  to  these  New 
Testament  writers  the  person  of  Christ  assumes  the 
central  and  determining  position  and  influence,  as  JaJi- 
veh  the  one  God  did  to  the  Old  Testament  writers. 
Christ  became  the  emperor  of  the  Scriptures,  to  use 
Luther's  expression,  and  His  person  irradiated  its  lan- 
guage and  literature  with  His  own  light  and  glory.  Thus 
when  the  mind  now  strove  to  conceive  no  longer  the 
simple  idea  of  the  one  God  Jahveh,  but  the  complex 
idea  of  the  person  of  Christ  and  the  Trinity  therein  in- 
volved, the  Hebrew  language  was  entirely  inadequate ; 
and  the  Greek,  as  the  most  capable,  must  be  strained 
and  tried  to  the  utmost  to  convey  the  idea  of  the  Logos, 
who  was  in  the  beginning,  was  with  God,  and  was  God, 
and  yet  became  the  Word  incarnate,  the  God-man,  the 
interpreter  in  complete  humanity  of  the  fulness  of  the 
Deity  dwelling  in  Him  (John  i.  1-14) ;  for  notwithstand- 
ing the  historical  preparation  for  this  conception  in  the 
theophanies  of  the  Hebrews,  the  nous  of  Plato,  the  logos 
of  Philo,  and  the  wisdom  of  Solomon  and  Sirach,  it  was 
yet  an  entirely  new  conception,  which,  notwithstanding 
the  preparation  of  the  Hebrew  and  the  Greek,  the  world 
could  not  appropriate  without  the  transforming  and  en- 
lightening influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God.*  So  in  an- 
thropology the  apostle  Paul  combines  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek  conceptions  in  order  to  produce  a  new  and  perfect 
conception.  Taking  the  psychology  of  the  Greek  as  a 
system,  he  gave  the  central  place  to  the  Hebrew  ruach  or 


*  Domer,  Eiitwicklungsgesckichte  der  Lehre  von  der  Person  ClirisU 
Stuttgart,  1845,  If  P-  64  ;  Edin.,  T.  &  T.  Clark,  1861,  pp.  44,  45;  Schaff,  ia 
Lange,  Com.  on  John,  N.  Y.,  p.  55, 


72  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

spirit,  finding,  to  use  the  words  of  Zezschwitz,  its  "  un- 
disturbed centralization  in  living  union  with  the  Spirit  of 
God."*  He  then  brings  out  the  strife  of  the  flesh  {aap^) 
with  the  spirit  {jivevpia),  and  the  false  position  of  the 
psychical  nature  {'f^'vxfj)  over  against  the  spirit.  So  also 
for  the  first  he  gives  to  the  world  the  true  conception 
of  the  conscience  {ffvveidr^ai?)  as  "  the  remnant  of  the 
spirit  in  the  psychical  man,"  "  the  divine  voice,"  the 
consciousness  of  which  Socrates  felt  as  the  "  summit  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  true  wisdom  by  the  Greek  spirit."  f 
Hence  the  development  of  the  doctrine  of  sin  with  its 
technical  terms,  and  of  holiness  with  its  new  ideas  and 
language.  How  infinitely  deeper  and  higher  than  the 
Greek  are  these  conceptions  of  the  New  Testament 
language,  as  the  person  of  Christ,  presented  by  the 
omnipotent  Spirit,  convinces  the  world  of  sin,  of  right- 
eousness, and  of  judgment  (John  xvi.  8).  Jesus,  as  "  the 
only-begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth  " 
(John  i.  14),  assumes  the  place  not  only  of  the  heroic  ideal 
man  of  the  Greeks,  but  even  of  the  unapproachable  holy 
Jahveh  of  the  Hebrews.  Hence  the  elevation  of  the  graces 
of  meekness,  patience,  long-suffering,  self-sacrifice ;  and  the 
dethronement  of  the  Greek  virtues  of  strength,  beauty, 
bravery,  manhood.  And  so  in  all  departments  of  Chris- 
tian thought,  there  was  a  corresponding  elevation  and 
degradation  of  terms  and  conceptions.  We  need  only 
mention  regeneration,  redemption,  reconciliation,  justifi- 
cation, sanctification,  life  and  death,  heaven  and  hell, 
the  church,  the  kingdom  of  God,  repentance,  faith, 
Christian  love,  baptism,  the_  Lord's  supper,  the  Lord's 
day,  the  advent,  the  judgment,  the  new  Jerusalem,  ever- 


*  Zezschwitz,  Pro/angracitat,  etc.,  p.  36,  seq. 
+  Zezschwitz,  in  /.  c,  pp.  55-57. 


THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  BIBLE.  Y3 

lasting  glory.*  Truly  a  new  world  was  disclosed  by  the 
Greek  language,  and  the  literature  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, as  the  Hebrew  and  the  Aramaic  and  the  Greek 
combined  their  energies  and  capacities  in  the  grasp  of 
the  Divine  creating  and  shaping  Spirit,  who  transformed 
the  Greek  language  and  created  a  new  and  holy  Greek 
literature,  as  the  earth  heaves  and  subsides  into  new 
forms  and  shapes  under  the  energy  of  the  great  forces 
of  its  advancing  epochs. 

The  especial  literary  development  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  in  the  sermon  and  the  theological  tract.  We 
trace  these  from  the  first  beginning  on  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost through  the  discourses  of  the  book  of  Acts,  and 
parallel  therewith  the  epistles  of  Peter  and  Paul  and 
John.  Looking  at  the  sermons  we  observe  that  they 
are  no  longer  on  the  Aramaic  model  as  are  the  dis- 
courses of  our  Lord,  but  we  see  the  Greek  orator  as 
well  as  the  Aramaic  rabbin.  So  with  the  epistles,  espe- 
cially of  Paul,  although  he  reminds  us  of  the  rabbinical 
schools  in  his  use  of  the  halacha  and  haggada  methods,f 
yet  they  exhibit  rather  the  dialectic  methods  of  the 
Greek  philosopher.  Thus  the  Greek  orator  and  phi- 
losopher prepared  the  language  and  style  of  Paul  the 
preacher  and  theologian  no  less  than  the  Hebrew 
prophet  and  wise  man  gave  him  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  his  wisdom  and  experience.  And  although 
the  Greek  literature  of  the  New  Testament  has  no  De- 
mosthenes' "  On  the  crown,"  or  Plato's  Republic,  as  it  has 
no  Iliad  or  Prometheus ;  yet  it  lays  the  foundation  of 
the  sermon  and  the  tract,  which  have  been  the  literary 


*  Bleek,  Einleitun^,  p.  71 ;  Immer,  Hermeneutik,  p.  105 ;  Am.  ed,,  Ando- 
ver,  1877,  pp.  129- 131 ;  Cremer,  Bib.  Tlieol.  Worterbuck  der  Neu-Tcstament. 
Gracitat  and  Trench,  New  Testament  Synonyms  under  the  respective  words. 

t  Gal.  iv.  22,  seq.  ;  Rom.  iii.  i,  seq.,  etc. 

4 


74  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

means  of  a  world-transforming  power,  as,  from  the  pulpit 
and  the  chair.  Christian  ministers  have  stirred  the  hearts 
and  minds  of  mankind,  and  lead  the  van  of  progress  of 
the  Christian  world — for  the  sermon  combines  the  pro- 
phetic message  of  the  Hebrew  with  the  oratorical  force 
of  the  Greek,  as  it  not  only  fires  the  heart,  but  strives 
in  the  council-chamber  of  the  intellect  and  pleads  at 
the  bar  of  the  conscience ;  while  the  epistle  combines 
the  sententious  wisdom  of  the  Hebrew  with  the  dia- 
lectic philosophy  of  the  Greek,  in  order  to  mould  and 
fashion  the  souls  of  men  and  of  nations,  by  great  vital 
and  comprehensive  principles  that  constitute  the  invin- 
cible forces  of  Christian  history. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  BIBLE  AND  CRITICISM. 


-t 


The  Bible  is  composed  of  a  great  variety  of  writings 
of  holy  men  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
in  a  long  series  extending  through  many  centuries,  pre- 
served to  us  in  three  different  original  languages,  the 
Hebrew,  the  Chaldee,  and  the  Greek,  besides  numerous 
versions.  These  languages  were  themselves  the  prod- 
ucts of  three  different  civilizations,  which  having  accom- 
plished their  purpose  passed  away,  the  languages  no 
longer  being  used  as  living  speech,  but  preserved  only  in 
written  documents.  They  present  to  us  a  great  variety 
of  literature,  as  the  various  literary  styles  and  the  various 
literary  forms  of  these  three  languages  have  combined 
in  this  one  sacred  book  of  the  Christian  church,  making 
it  as  remarkable  for  its  literary  variety  as  for  its  religious 
unity. 

The  Bible  is  the  sacred  canon  of  the  church  of  Christ, 
the  infallible  authority  in  all  matters  of  worship,  faith, 
and  practice.  From  this  point  of>view  it  has  been  stud- 
ied for  centuries  by  Jew  and  Christian.  Principles  of  in- 
terpretation have  been  established  and  employed  in 
building  up  systems  of  religion,  doctrine,  and  morals. 
The  divine  element,  which  is  ever  the  principal  thing,  has 
been  justly  emphasized  ;  and  the  doctrine  of  inspiration 
has  been  extended  by  many  dogmatic  divines  so  as  to 

(75) 


Y6  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  « 

cover  the  external  letter,  the  literary  form  and  style,  in.  * 
the  theory  of  verbal  inspiration.  The  fact  has  been- too 
often  overlooked,  that  it  has  not  seemed  best  to  God  to 
create  a  holy  language  for  the  exclusive  vehicle  of  His  ■ 
Word,  or  to  constitute  peculiar  literary  forms  and  styles- 
for  the  expression  of  His  revelation,  or  to  commit  the 
keeping  of  the  text  of  this  Word  to  infallible  guar- 
dians. But  on  the  other  hand,  as  He  employed  men 
rather  than  angels  as  the  channels  of  His  revelation,  so 
He  used  three  human  languages  with  all  the  varieties  of 
literature  that  had  been  developed  in  the  various  nations, 
using  these  languages  in  order  that  He  might  approach 
mankind  in  a  more  familiar  way  in  the  human  ioxvas  with 
which  they  were  acquainted  and  which  they  could  readily 
understand,  and  He  permitted  the  sacred  text  to  depend 
for  its  accuracy  upon  the  attention  and  care  of  the  suc- 
cessive generations  of  His  people.  Hence  the  necessity 
of  biblical  criticism  to  determine  the  true  canon,  the 
correct  text,  and  the  position  and  character  of  the  vari- 
ous writings. 

These  sacred  writings  might  be  studied  from  the  histor- 
ical point  of  view  under  the  title.  History  of  Biblical  Lit- 
erature, or  from  the  dogmatic  point  of  view  as  Biblical 
Introduction  ;  but  both  of  these  methods  of  treating 
biblical  literature,  unless  they  depend  entirely  upon 
traditional  opinions,  presuppose  the  work  of  criticism. 
The  dogmatic  method  of  Biblical  Introduction  is  con- 
trary to  the  genius  of  biblical  study.  The  Biblical  In- 
troductions constructed  on  this  plan  have  gathered  a 
vast  amount  of  material  in  a  dry,  scholastic,  pedantic, 
and  ill-adjusted  mass,  so  as  to  prejudice  the  student 
against  the  Scriptures  when  he  should  be  introduced  by 
the  best  methods  into  the  sacred  halls  of  its  literature. 
The  addition  of  the  attributes  "  historical,"  and  "  histori- 


THE  BIBLE  AND  CRITICISM.  77 

co-critical,"  to  "  introduction  "  has  been  accompanied  by 
a  corresponding  internal  improvement  through  the  in- 
troduction of  the  critical  and  the  historical  methods, 
but  they  have  been  kept  in  too  subordinate  a  place  even 
in  the  works  most  characterized  by  freedom  of  criticism. 
Through  the  influence  of  Reuss  and  Hupfeld  the  his- 
torical method  came  into  use  as  the  dominant  one.* 
But  such  a  history  of  biblical  literature  can  be  con- 
structed only  after  criticism  has  accomplished  its  work 
of  destruction  and  of  construction,  and  it  will  be  shaped 
and  controlled  by  criticism.  Hermann  Strackf  thinks 
that  such  a  history  is  at  present  impossible  on  account 
of  the  great  diversity  of  opinion  among  critics.  It  is 
true  that  any  such  history  will  represent  the  subjective 
opinions  of  the  historian  and  his  school.  The  works  of 
Fiirst  and  Reuss  are  built  upon  theoretical  considera- 
tions rather  than  established  facts.  But  a  history  of 
biblical  literature  might  be  constructed  which  would 
distinguish  between  facts  and  theories,  and  though  it 
might  be  imperfect  and  not  altogether  satisfactory,  it 
might  prepare  the  way  for  something  better,  and  it  would 
certainly  present, the  material  in  a  most  attractive  form. 
But  the  dominant  method  in  all  biblical  studies  should 
be  the  inductive  and  not  the  historical.  The  construc- 
tion of  a  history  of  biblical  literature  would  not  dis- 
pense with  a  system  of  biblical  literature  as  a  part  of 
Exegetical  Theology.  In  the  construction  of  this  sys- 
tem criticism  will  prove  the  most  important  method. 


*  Reuss,  die  Gesch.  d.  heil.  Schri/ten  N.  T.,  1842,  ste  Aufl.,  1874 ;  Hupfeld, 
Bfgriff  und  Method  d.  sogenan.  Hb.  Einleit.y  1S44  ;  Furst,  Gesch.  d.  bib.  Lit- 
eratur  historisch  und  kritisch  behandclt,  1867-70 ;  Zahn,  Einleitung  in  das 
N.  T.y  in  Herzog,  Real  Encyk.  ii.  Aufl.  iv.,  p.  147,  1879;  Reuss,  Gesch.  d.  heil. 
•Schri/ten  Alien  Test.     1881. 

t  Zockler,  Handbuch  det-  theologischen  IVissemcIia/ten,  I.,  1882,  p.  122. 


78  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

It  seems  best,  therefore,  to  distinguish  the  three  depart- 
ments of  Biblical  Literature  as.  Biblical  Canonics,  Text- 
ual Criticism,  and  Higher  Criticism. 

The  distinction  between  the  lower  and  the  higher 
criticism  has  long  been  known  to  scholars.  These  terms 
have  been  more  widely  used  than  any  others  to  discrim- 
inate between  the  criticism  of  the  text  and  the  criticism 
of  the  literary  forms  and  contents.  They  are  not  al- 
together satisfactory,  but  we  shall  retain  them  as  the 
best  terms  that  have  been  suggested  and  in  accordance 
with  the  established  technics  of  criticism.  Hagenbach  * 
proposes  to  substitute  internal  and  external  criticism  for 
higher  and  lower  criticism,  but  we  have  yet  to  learn  that 
any  critic  has  adopted  his  proposition. 

We  propose  to  give  in  this  chapter  a  general  discus- 
sion of  criticism  itself,  its  idea,  divisions,  principles,  and 
methods,  and  the  propriety  of  its  application  to  the 
Bible ;  in  the  three  following  chapters  to  treat  the  three 
departments  of  biblical  criticism  separately,  and  in  the 
two  subsequent  chapters  to  present  biblical  literature  in 
its  two  great  literary  forms,  as  prose  and  poetry. 


I.   WHAT    IS  CRITICISM? 


K 


Biblical  criticism  is  one  of  the  departments  of  his- 
torical criticism,  as  historical  criticism  is  one  of  the 
divisions  of  general  criticism.  Criticism  is  a  method 
of  knowledge,  and,  wherever  there  is  anything  to  be 
known,  the  critical  method  has  its  place.  Knowl- 
edge is  gained  by  the  faculties  of  the  human  mind 
through  sense-perception,  the  intuitions,  and  the  rea- 
soning powers.  If  these  were  infallible  in  their  work- 
ing, and  their  results  were  always  reliable,  there  would 


*  Encyklopddie^  gte  Aufl.,  1874,  p.  164. 


THE  BIBLE  AND  CRITICISM.  79 

be  no  need  of  criticism ;  but,  in  fact,  these  faculties  are 
used  by  fallible  men  who  do  not  know  how  to  use  them, 
or  employ  them  in  various  degrees  of  imperfection, 
so  that  human  knowledge  is  ever  a  mixture  of  the 
true  and  false,  the  reliable  and  the  unreliable;  and  errors 
of  individuals  are  perpetuated  and-  enhanced  by  trans- 
mission from  man  to  man  and  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration. Criticism  is  the  test  of  the  certainty  of  knowl- 
edge, the  method  of  its  verification.  It  examines  the 
products  of  human  thinking  and  working  and  tests  them 
by  the  laws  of  thought  and  of  history.  It  eliminates  the 
false,  the  uncertain,  the  unsubstantial  from  the  true,  the 
certain,  and  the  substantial. 

The  unthinking  rely  upon  their  own  crude  knowledge 
which  they  have  received  from  their  fathers  and  friends 
or  acquired  by  their  narrow  experience,  without  reflect- 
ing upon  the  uncertainty  necessarily  attached  to  it. 
But  the  reflecting  mind  which  has  experienced  the  un- 
certainty of  its  own  acquisitions  and  of  those  things  that 
have  been  transmitted  to  it,  cannot  rely  upon  anything 
as  really  known  until  it  has  been  tested  and  found  reli- 
able by  criticism.  For  criticism  reviews  the  processes 
of  thought  and  the  arguments  and  evidences  by  which 
its  results  have  been  acquired.  It  studies  these  prod- 
ucts in  their  genesis,  examines  them  carefully  in  the  or- 
der of  their  production,  verifies  and  corrects  them,  im- 
proves upon  them  where  improvement  is  possible, 
strengthens  them  where  strength  is  needed,  but  also 
destroys  them  when  they,  are  found  to  be  worthless, 
misleading,  or  false,  as  mere  conceits,  illusions,  or  fraudu- 
lent inventions.  Criticism  is  thus  on  the  one  side  de- 
structive, for  its  o'ffice  is  to  detect  the  false,  eliminate  it, 
and  destroy  it.  This  is  not  infrequently  a  painful  process 
to  the  critic  himself,  and  to  those  who  have  allowed 


so  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

themselves  to  be  deceived,  and  have  been  relying 
upon  the  unreliable ;  but  it  is  indispensable  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth  ;  it  is  the  path  of  safety  for  the 
intellect  and  the  morals ;  it  removes  the  obstructions  to 
progress  in  knowledge.  The  destruction  of  an  error 
opens  up  a  vision  of  the  truth,  as  a  mote  removed  from 
the  eye  or  frost  brushed  from  the  window.  For  critic 
cism  is  also  constructive.  It  tests  and  finds  the  truth. 
It  rearranges  truths  and  facts  in  their  proper  order  and 
harmony.  In  accordance  with  the  strictness  of  its 
methods,  and  the  thoroughness  of  their  application  will  be 
the  certainty  of  the  results.  But  criticism  itself,  as  a 
human  method  of  knowledge,  is  also  defective  and  needs 
self-criticism  for  its  own  rectification,  security,  and  prog- 
ress. It  must  again  and  again  verify  its  methods  and 
correct  its  processes.  Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of 
truth  as  well  as  of  liberty.  It  improves  its  methods  with 
the  advancement  of  human  learning.  In  the  infancy  or 
growth  of  a  nation,  or  of  an  individual,  or  of  the  world, 
we  do  not  find  criticism.  It  belongs  to  the  manhood 
and  maturity  of  a  nation  and  the  world's  civilization. 

Criticism  requires  for  its  exercise  careful  training. 
Only  those  who  have  learned  how  to  use  its  tools  and 
have  employed  them  with  the  best  masters,  and  have 
attained  a  mastery  of  the  departments  of  knowledge  to 
be  criticised,  are  prepared  for  the  delicate  and  difficult 
work  of  criticism ;  for  knowledge  must  be  attained  ere 
it  can  be  tested.  Criticism  refines  the  crude  oil  of 
knowledge.  It  cleanses  and  polishes  the  rough  diamond 
of  thought.  It  removes  the  dross  from  the  gold  of 
wisdom.  Criticism  searches  all  departments  of  knowl- 
edge as  a  torch  of  fire  consuming  the  hay,  straw,  and 
stubble,  that  the  truth  of  God  may  shine  forth  in  its 
majesty  and  certainty  as  the  imperishable  and  eternal. 


THE  BIBLE  AND  CRITICISM.  gl 

No  one  need  fear  criticism,  save  those  who  are  uncer- 
tain in  their  knowledge,  for  criticism  leads  to  certitude. 
It  dissipates  doubt.     Fiat  Lux  is  its  watchword. 

We  are  not  surprised  that  criticism  has  thus  far  been 
largely  destructive,  for  there  were  many  errors  that  had 
grown  up  and  become  venerable  with  age,  and  were  so 
interwoven  and  embedded  in  systems  of  philosophy,  of 
theology,  of  law,  medicine,  and  science,  as  well  as  the 
manners  and  customs  of  men,  that  a  long  conflict  was 
necessary  to  destroy  them.  Mankind  in  general  are  more  ^ 
concerned  with  the  maintenance  of  established  positions  ', 
and  systems  and  vested  interests  than  they  are  interested 
in  the  truth  of  God  and  of  nature.  Scholars,  when  they 
see  the  venerable  errors,  hesitate  to  destroy  them  for  fear 
of  damaging  their  own  interests  or  those  of  their  friends, 
and  sometimes  out  of  anxiety  for  the  truth,  with  which 
the  error  is  entangled.  But  in  the  providence  of  God, 
some  great  doubter  like  Voltaire,  Hume  or  Strauss,  or 
some  great  reformer  like  Luther  or  Zwingli,  arises  to  lay 
violent  hands  upon  the  systems  in  which  truth  and  error 
are  combined,  raze  them  to  the  ground  and  trample  them 
in  the  dust,  that  from  the  ruins  the  imperishable  truth 
may  be  gathered  up  and  arranged  in  its  proper  order 
and  harmony. 

The  modern  world  since  the  Reformation  has  become 
more  and  more  critical,  until  the  climax  has  been  reached 
in  our  day.  The  destruction  of  error  has  been  the  chief 
duty  of  criticism,  but  its  constructive  work  has  not 
been  neglected,  and  this  will  more  and  more  rise  into 
importance  in  the  progress  of  knowledge.  It  is  not  with- 
out significance  that  the  age  of  the  world  most  charac- 
terized by  the  spirit  of  criticism  has  been  the  age  of  the 
most  wonderful  progress  in  all  departments  of  human 
knowledge. 
4* 


82  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Criticism  divides  itself  into  various  branches  in  accord- 
ance with  the  departments  of  knowledge :  (i)  Philosoph- 
ical Criticism  ;  (2)  Historical  Criticism  ;  and  (3)  Scientific 
Criticism.  Limiting  ourselves  to  historical  criticism 
we  distinguish  it  from  other  criticism,  in  that  it  has  to 
do  with  the  materials  of  the  past,  the  sources  of  the  his- 
tory of  mankind ;  as  philosophical  criticism  has  to  do 
with  the  facts  of  human  consciousness,"  and  scientific 
criticism  with  the  facts  of  external  nature.  Historical 
criticism  deals  with  the  various  sources  of  history ;  liter- 
ary documents,  monuments,  laws,  customs,  institutions, 
traditions,  legends,  and  myths.  The  great  importance 
of  the  literary  sources  justifies  their  separation  in  the 
distinct  branch  of  literary  criticism.  Biblical  criticism 
is  one  of  the  sections  of  literary  criticism,  as  it  has  to 
do  with  the  sacred  literature  of  the  Christian  Church. 

II.   THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  CRITICISM. 

The  principles  and  methods  of  Biblical  Criticism  will 
thus  embrace  (i)  those  of  Criticism  in  general,  (2)  of  His- 
torical Criticism,  (3)  of  Literary  Criticism,  and  (4)  of  Bibli- 
cal Criticism.  Biblical  Criticism  has  thus  the  advantage 
of  all  this  preliminary  work  in  other  fields  to  guide  and 
illustrate  its  own  peculiar  work. 

I.  From  General  Criticism  it  derives  the  fundamental 
laws  of  thought,  which  must  not  be  violated,  such  as  the 
laws  of  identity,  of  contradiction,  of  exclusion,  and  of 
sufficient  reason  ;  *  also  the  laws  of  probation,  which  must 
be  applied  to  all  reasoning :  There  must  be  no  begging 
of  the  question  at  issue,  no  reasoning  backward  and  for- 
ward or  in  a  circle,  no  jumping  at  conclusions,  no  set- 


*  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton,"  Logic^  Boston,  i860,  p.  57 ;  also  McCosh,  Laws  0/ 
Discursive  Thought,  N.  Y.,  1871,  p.  195,  seg. 


THE  BIBLE  AND  CRITICISM.  83 

ting  out  to  prove  one  thing  and  then  insensibly  sub- 
stituting another  thing  in  its  place.*  These  laws  of 
probation  are  the  sharp  tools  of  the  critic  with  which  he 
tests  all  the  acquisitions  of  the  human  mind  and  all  the 
reasonings  of  scholars  in  all  departments  of  knowledge.f 

2.  From  Historical  Criticism  Biblical  Criticism  derives 
the  principles  of  historic  genesis.  The  evidences  of  history- 
belong  to  the  past.  They  are  oral,  written,  or  monu- 
mental. They  have  passed  through  several  stages  before 
they  reached  us.  They  must  be  traced  back  to  their 
origin  in  order  to  determine  whether  they  are  genuine  ; 
or  whether  they  have  been  invented  as  interesting  sto- 
ries for  hours  of  idleness  and  recreation,  or  as  forgeries 
with  the  intent  to  deceive ;  or  whether  there  is  a  min- 
gling of  these  various  elements  that  need  to  be  separated 
and  distinguished.:}: 

The  order  and  processes  of  the  development  of  the 
material  must  be  considered  in  order  to  determine  its 
integrity,  or  how  far  it  has  been  modified  by  external 
influences  or  the  struggle  of  internal  inconsistencies,  and 
how  far  the  earlier  and  the  later  elements  may  be  distin- 
guished and  the  excrescences  removed  from  the  original. 

The  character  of  the  material  must  be  studied  in  order 
to  determine  how  far  it  is  reliable  and  trustworthy ; 
whether  it  is  in  accordance  with  the  experience  of  man- 
kind, and  so  natural ;  or  contrary  to  that  experience,  and 
so  unnatural  or  supernatural ;  whether  it  is  in  harmony 
with  itself  and  consistent  with  its  own  conditions  and 


*  Sir  Wm.  Hamilton,  Logic,  p.  369;  McCosh,  Laws  of  Discursive  Thought, 
p.  183,  seq. 

^  An  excellent  application  of  these  principles  to  Biblical  Criticism  is  found  in 
the  article  of  Willis  J.  Beecher  on  the  Logical  Methods  of  Professor  Kuenen,  in 
the  Presbyterian  Review,  1S82,  III.,  p.  701,  seq. 
.  4  Gieseler,  Text-Book  of  Church  History.    N.  Y.,  1857,  I.,  p.  23. 


g4  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

circumstances  ;  whether  there  are  disturbing  influences 
that  determine  the  material  so  as  to  warp  or  color  it, 
and  how  far  these  influences  extend.* 

The  value  of  the  materials  of  history  depends  upon 
such  considerations  as  these;  also  upon  the  nearness  or 
remoteness  of  the  material  to  the  matters  concerning 
which  they  render  testimony ;  upon  the  extent  and  vari- 
ety of  evidence,  if  that  extent  and  variety  are  primitive 
and  not  derived  from  an  original  source  upon  which 
they  all  depend.  The  consistency  and  persistence  of 
materials  are  also  evidences  of  vitality  and  inherent 
strength  of  evidence. 

The  sources  of  history  that  cannot  bear  this  criticism 
are  not  reliable  sources.  The  application  of  these  sim- 
ple tests  removes  from  the  pages  of  history  numberless 
legends,  fables,  and  myths,  and  determines  the  residuum 
of  truth  and  fact  that  underlies  them.  It  is  distressing 
to  part  with  the  sweet  stories  which  have  been  told  us 
in  our  early  life,  and  which  have  been  handed  down  by 
the  romancers  from  the  childhood  and  youth  of  our 
race.  We  may  still  use  them  as  stories,  as  products  of 
the  imagination,  but  we  dare  not  build  on  them  as  his- 
toric verities.  As  men  we  must  know  the  truth.  We 
cannot  afford  to  deceive  ourselves  or  others. 

Many  of  these  legends  and  traditions  have  strongly 
intrenched  themselves  and  lie  like  solid  rocks  in  the 
path  of  historic  investigation.  They  must  be  exploded 
to  get  at  the  truth,  and  this  cannot*  be  done  without 
noise  and  confusion  ;  and  outcries  of  alarm  from  the 
weak  and  timid,  and  those  who  are  interested  in  the 
maintenance  of  error  and  court  popularity  by  an  ap- 
peal to  prejudices.     Sometimes  these  traditions  may  be 


*  See  Droysen,  Grundriss  der  Historik,     Leipfig^,  i868.    pp.  16-17. 


THE  BIBLE  AND  CKITICISM.  85 

overcome  by  positive  evidence  obtained  by  careful  re- 
search in  ancient  documents,  and  by  parallel  lines  of  evi- 
dence. But  it  is  not  always  possible  to  obtain  sufificient 
external  positive  evidence.  Sometimes  we  have  to  rely 
upon  a  long-continued  and  unbroken  silence,  and  some- 
times we  have  to  challenge  the  tradition  and  reject  it 
from  sheer  lack  of  evidence  and  the  suspicious  circum- 
stances of  its  origin  and  growth. 

3.  From  Literary  Criticism  Biblical  Criticism  derives  its 
chief  principles  and  methods.  As  literature  it  must  first 
be  considered  as  text.  The  MSS.,  versions,  and  cita- 
tions are  studied  in  order  to  attain,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
originals.*  The  laws  of  the  transmission  of  books  are 
to  be  determined.  The  sources  of  error  in  the  text  are 
the  carelessness,  ignorance,  or  inadvertence  of  the  copy- 
ists. We  have  to  consider  the  mistakes  which  they  were 
liable  to  make,  such  as  in  words  of  similar  sound,  in 
letters  of  like  form,  in  the  repetition  of  words  in  passing 
from  line  to  line,  in  the  omission  or  insertion  of  words 
or  clauses  by  slips  of  the  eye,  in  the  transfer  of  explana- 
tory notes  from  the  margin  to  the  text.  The  errors  in 
translation  arise  from  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  original, 
or  inability  to  give  adequate  expression  to  the  idea  of 
the  original,  save  by  paraphrase,  and  in  defective  judg- 
ment as  to  the  best  way  of  rendering  it.  Errors  in  cita- 
tion arise  from  slips  of  the  memory  and  the  desire  to 
use  a  part  and  not  the  whole  of  the  passage,  or  the 
adaptation  of  it  to  circumstances  beyond  the  scope  of 
the  original.  There  are  also  errors  in  the  text  because  of 
the  wear  and  tear  of  time  in  the  destruction  of  MSS.,  ren- 


*  A  statement  of  the  principles  of  Textual  Criticism  in  relation  to  the  New 
Testament  may  be  found  in  the  Jirticle  of  Prof.  B,  B.  Warfield  on  The  Greek 
Testament  of  Westcott  and  Hort.  Presbyterian  Review,  III.,  1S82,  p.  334, 
seq. 


86  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

dering  them  illegible,  indistinct,  or  mutilated,  and  through 
the  efforts  to  restore  them.*  The  value  of  the  MSS, 
must  first  be  considered,  their  interrelation  and  antiq- 
uity and  history.  They  must  be  arranged  in  families 
or  groups  that  their  relative  authority  may  be  estab- 
lished.f  The  value  of  the  MSS.  having  been  deter- 
mined, we  are  prepared  to  examine  the  relative  value  of 
the  readings.  The  principles  on  which  this  is  done  are  : 
(i)  The  reading  which  lies  at  the  root  of  all  the  varia- 
tions and  best  explains  them  is  to  be  preferred.  (2)  The 
most  difificult  reading  is  more  likely  to  be  correct  from 
the  natural  tendency  of  the  scribe  to  make  his  text  as 
easy  and  intelligible  as  possible,  and  the  natural  process 
of  simplification  in  transmission.:}:  (3)  The  reading  most 
in  accordance  with  the  context,  and  especially  with  the 
style  and  usage  of  the  author  and  his  times,  is  to  be 
preferred.  This  is  on  the  principle  of  consistency  and 
"  intrinsic  probability."  § 

4.  Having  secured  the  best  text  of  the  writings,  criti- 
cism devotes  itself  to  the  higher  task  of  considering 
them  as  to  integrity,  authenticity,  literary  form,  and  re- 
liability. This  is  appropriately  called  Higher  Criticism. 
This  branch  of  criticism  has  established  its  principles 


*  See  Capellus,  Critica  Sacra,  1650,  Lib.  I.  ;  Scrivener,  Introduction  to  the 
Criticism  0/  the  New  Testament,  1874,  p.  7,  seq.  ;  Isaac  Taylor,  History  of 
the  Transmission  of  Ancient  Books  to  Modern  Times,  new  edition.  Liver- 
pool, 1879,  p.  22 ;  also  Westcott  and  Hort,  New  Testament  in  the  Original 
Greek,  Vol.  XL,  Introduction,  N.  Y.,  1882,  p.  5,  seq. 

t  See  Scrivener  in  /.  c,  p.  404,  seq.  Westcott  and  Hort  deserve  great  credit 
for  their  elaboration  of  this  principle  in  /.  c,  p.  39,  seq. 

\  These  two  principles  are  combined  by  Westcott  and  Hort  in  /.  c.,  p.  23,  seq., 
under  the  term  "  transcriptional  probability." 

§  See  Westcott  and  Hort  in  /.  c,  p.  20,  seq.  Scrivener  expands  these  princi- 
ples to  seven  in  number  in  /.  c.,  p.  436,  seq.  ;  Davidson,  Treatise  of  Biblical 
Criticism,  Boston,  1853,  p.  386,  seq.^  g^ivcs  principles  of  Textual  Criticism  for 
the  Old  Testament. 


THE  BIBLE  AND  CRITICISM.  87 

and  methods  of  work.  Thus  the  learned  Roman  Cath- 
olic, Du  Pin,  in  the  introduction  to  his  magnificent 
work  on  ecclesiastical  writers,  gives  an  admirable  state- 
ment of  them  with  reference  to  those  ecclesiastical  writ- 
ers before  the  higher  criticism  of  the  Scriptures  had 
fairly  begun.  We  shall  build  largely  upon  him  in  the 
statement  of  principles.* 

The  questions  to  be  determined  by  higher  criticism  are : 
(i)  As  to  the  integrity  of  the  writings.  Is  the  writing 
the  work  of  a  single  author  or  is  it  a  collection  of  writ- 
ings of  different  authors  ?  Is  it  in  its  original  condition, 
or  has  it  been  edited  or  interpolated  by  later  writers  ? 
Can  the  parts  be  discriminated,  the  original  form  of  the 
writing  determined,  and  the  different  steps  in  interpola- 
tion and  editing  traced  ? 

(2)  As  to  the  authenticity  of  the  writings.  Is  the  writ- 
ing anonymous,  pseudonymous,  or  does  it  bear  the  au- 
thor's name?  If  the  author's  name  is  given,  is  the  title 
genuine  or  is  it  a  forgery  ?  What  reliance  can  be  placed 
upon  tradition  with  regard  to  the  authorship  of  anony- 
mous writings  ?    ' 

(3)  As  to  literary  features.  What  is  the  style  of  the 
author,  his  method  of  composition  .?  What  literary 
form  does  he  assume,  poetry  or  prose,  and  what  variety 
of  these  general  forms  ? 

(4)  As  to  the  credibility  of  the  writings.  Is  the  writ- 
ing reliable?  Do  its  statements  accord  with  the  truth, 
or  are  they  colored  and  warped  by  prejudice,  supersti- 
tion, or  reliance  upon  insufficient  or  unworthy  testimony  ? 
What  character  does  the  author  bear  as  to  prudence, 
good  judgment,  fairness,  integrity,  and  critical  sagacity  ? 


■  *  Nouvelle  Bibliotheque  des  Auteurs  Ecclesiastiguej,  Paris,  1694 ;  New  His 
tory  0/  Ecclesiastical  Writers^  London,  1696, 


88 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


These  questions  of  the  higher  criticism  are  to  be  de- 
termined by  the  following  principles:* 

(i)  The  writing  must  be  in  accordance  with  its  sup- 
posed historic  position  as  to  time  and  place  and  circum- 
stances. 

"  Time  is  one  of  the  most  certain  proofs  ;  for  nothing  more  evi- 
dently shows  that  a  book  cannot  belong  to  that  time  wherein  it  is 
pretended  to  have  been  written,  than  when  we  find  in  it  some  marks 
of  a  later  date.  These  marks,  in  the  first  place,  are  false  dates  ;  for 
'tis  an  ordinary  thing  for  impostors,  that  are  generally  ignorant,  to 
date  a  book  after  the  death  of  the  author  to  whom  they  ascribe  it, 
or  of  the  person  to  whom  they  ascribe  it,  or  of  the  person  to  whom 
it  is  dedicated,  or  written ;  and  even  when  they  do  fix  the  time  right, 
yet  they  often  mistake  in  the  names  of  the  consuls,,  or  in  some  other 
circumstances :  All  which  are  invincible  proofs  that  he  that  dated 
this  book  did  not  live  at  that  time.  Secondly,  impostors  very  often 
speak  of  men  that  lived  long  after  the  death  of  those  persons  to 
whom  they  attribute  those  spurious  discourses,  or  they  relate  the  his- 
tory of  some  passages  that  happened  afterwards,  or  they  speak  of 
cities  and  people  that  were  unknown  at  the  time,  when  those  authors 
wrote  "  t 

(2)  Differences  of  style  imply  differences  of  expe- 
rience and  age  of  the  same  author,  or,  when  sufficiently 
great,  differences  of  author  and  of  period  of  composition. 

"In  short,  stile  is  a  sort  of  touchstone,  that  discovers  the  truth 
or  falsehood  of  books;  because  it  is  impossible  to  imitate  the  stile 
of  any  author  so  perfectly  as  that  there  will  not  be  a  great  deal  of  dif- 
ference. By  the  stile,  we  are  not  only  to  understand  the  bare  words 
and  terms,  which  are  easily  imitated;  but  also  the  turn  of  the  dis- 
course, the  manner  of  writing,  the  elocution,  the  figures,  and  the 


•-  A  brief  statement  of  these  principles  is  presented  in  relation  to  Biblical  Criti- 
cism by  Prof.  Henry  P.  Smith,  in  his  article  on  the  Critical  Theories  of  Julius 
Vr'elUiauseit,  Presbyterian  RejAew,  1882,  III.,  p.  370. 

t  Du  Pin,  New  History  of  Ecclesiastical  Writers.  3d  edition,  corrected. 
London,  1696,  p.  vii.  seq. 


THE  BIBLE  AND  CRITICISM.  89 

method  :  All  which  particulars,  it  is  a  difficult  matter  so  to  counter- 
feit as  to  prevent  a  discovery.  There  are,  for  instance,  certain  au- 
thors, whose  stile  is  easily  known,  and  which  it  is  impossible  to  im- 
itate :  We  ought  not,  however,  always  to  reject  a  book  upon  a  slight 
difference  of  stile,  without  any  other  proofs  ;  because  it  often  hap- 
pens that  authors  write  differently,  in  different  times  :  Neither  ought 
we  immediately  to  receive  a  book  as  genuine,  upon  the  bare  resem- 
blance of  stile,  when  there  are  other  proofs  of  its  being  spurious ; 
because  it  may  so  happen,  that  an  ingenious  man  may  sometimes 
counterfeit  the  stile  of  an  author,  especially  in  discourses  which  are 
not  very  long.  But  the  difference  and  resemblance  of  stile  may  be 
so  remarkable  sometimes,  as  to  be  a  convincing  proof,  either  of  truth 
or  falsehood  "  (in  /.  c,  p.  viii.). 

(3)  Differences  of  opinion  and  conception  imply  dif- 
ferences of  author  when  these  are  sufficiently  great,  and 
also  differences  of  period  of  composition. 

"  The  opinions  or  things  contained  in  a  book,  do  likewise  discover 
the  forgery  of  it :  (i)  When  we  find  some  opinions  there,  that  were 
not  maintained  till  a  long  time  after  the  author,  whose  name  it  bears. 
(2)  When  we  find  some  terms  made  use  of,  to  explain  these  doc- 
trines, which  were  not  customary  till  after  his  death.  (3)  When  the 
author  opposes  errors,  as  extant  in  his  own  time,  that  did  not  spring 
up  till  afterwards.  (4)  When  he  describes  ceremonies,  rites  and 
customs  that  were  not  in  use  in  his  time.  (5)  When  we  find  some 
opinions  in  these  spurious  discourses,  that  are  contrary  to  those  that 
are  to  be  found  in  other  books,  which  unquestionably  belong  to  that 
author.  (6)  When  he  treats  of  matters  that  were  never  spoken  of 
in  the  time  when  the  real  author  was  alive.  (7)  When  he  relates 
histories  that  are  manifestly  fabulous  "  (in  /.  c,  p.  viii.). 

(4)  Citations  show  the  dependefnce  of  the  author  upon 
the  author  or  authors  cited,  where  these  are  definite  and 
the  identity  of  the  author  cited  can  be  clearly  estab- 
lished. In  cases  of  doubt  as  to  which  author  uses  the 
other,  or  whether  two  or  more  authors  may  not  depend 
upon  an  earlier  author ;  this  doubt  can  be  resolved  only 
by  the  careful  determination  of  the  exact  interrelation 


90  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

of  the  passages  and  the  genesis  of  the  one  out  of  the 
other.  This  is  the  most  difficult  principle  of  the  higher 
criticism  in  its  application.  Du  Pin  simply  attaches  it 
to  No.  (i),  "  or  lastly,  they  cite  authors  that  wrote  and 
lived  after  those  whom  they  make  to  mention  them." 

These  four  principles  are  embraced  under  the  internal 
evidence.  To  them  we  must  now  add  two  principles  of 
external  evidence. 

(5)  Positive  testimony  as  to  the  writing  in  other  writ- 
ings of  acknowledged  authority. 

(6)  The  silence  of  authorities  as  to  the  writing  in  ques- 
tion.    These  are  combined  by  Du  Pin  :   . 

"  The  external  proofs  are,  in  the  first  place,  taken  from  ancient 
manuscripts  ;  in  which  either  we  do  not  find  the  name  of  an  author  : 
or  else  we  find  that  of  another  :  The  more  ar^cient  or  correct  they 
are,  the  more  we  ought  to  value  them.  Secondly,  from  the  testimony 
or  silence  of  ancient  authors ;  from  their  testimony,  I  say.  when  they 
formally  reject  a  writing  as  spurious,  or  when  they  attribute  it  to 
some  other  author ;  or  from  their  silence  when  they  do  not  speak  of 
it,  though  they  have  occasion  to  mention  it :  This  argument,  which 
is  commonly  called  a  negative  one,  is  oftentimes  of  very  great 
weight.  When,  for  example,  we  find,  that  several  entire  books  which 
are  attributed  to  one  of  the  ancients,  are  unknown  to  all  antiquity; 
When  all  those  persons  that  have  spoken  of  the  works  of  an  author, 
and  besides,  have  made  catalogues  of  them,  never  mention  such  a 
particular  discourse :  When  a  book  that  would  have  been  service- 
able to  the  Catholics  has  never  been  cited  by  them,  who  both  might 
and  ought  to  have  cited  it,  as  having  a  fair  occasion  to  do  it,  'tis  ex- 
treamly  probable  that  it  is  supposititious.  It  is  very  certain  that  this 
is  enough  to  make  any  book  doubtful,  if  it  was  never  cited  by  any 
of  the  ancients  ;  and  in  that  case  it  must  have  very  authentik  char-. 
acters  of  antiquity,  before  it  ought  to  be  received  without  contradic- 
tion. And  on  the  other  hand,  if  there  should  be  never  so  few  con- 
jectures of  its  not  being  genuine,  yet  these,  together  with  the  silence 
of  the  ancients,  will  be  sufficient  to  oblige  us  to  believe  it  to  be  a 
forgery  "  (in  /.  c,  p.  viii.). 


THE  BIBLE  AND  CRITICISM.  91 

The  argument  from  silence  has  risen  to  so  much 
greater  importance  than  it  was  in  the  seventeenth  cent- 
ury that  we  shall  venture  to  define  it  more  narrowly. 

{a)  Silence  is  a  lack  of  evidence,  for  the  reason  that 
the  matter  in  question  did  not  come  within  the  scope  of 
the  author's  argument. 

{b)  It  is  an  evidence  that  it  had  certain  characteristics 
that  excluded  it  from  the  author's  argument. 

{c)  The  matter  in  question  lies  fairly  within  the  au- 
thor's scope,  and  was  omitted  for  good  and  sufficient 
reasons  that  may  be  ascertained.  The  omission  was  in- 
tentional. 

{d)  The  silence  of  the  author  as  to  that  which  was 
within  the  scope  of  his  argument  was  unconscious  and 
implies  ignorance  of  the  matter. 

{e)  When  the  silence  extends  over  a  variety  of  writings 
of  different  authors,  of  different  classes  of  writings  and 
different  periods  of  composition,  it  implies  either  some 
strong  and  overpowering  external  restraint  such  as  divine 
interposition,  or  ecclesiastical  or  civil  power,  or  it  im- 
plies a  general  and  wide-spread  public  ignorance  which 
presents  a  strong  presumptive  evidence  in  favor  of  the 
non-existence  of  the  matter  in  question.''^ 

The  internal  evidence  must  be  used  with  great  caution 
and  sound  judgment,  for  an  able  and  learned  forger 
might  imitate  so  as  to  deceive  the  most  expert,  and  the 
author  of  a  pseudepigraph  might  intentionally  place  his 
writing  in  an  earlier  age  of  the  world  and  in  circum- 
stances best  suited  to  carry  out  his  idea.  But  sooner  or 
later  a  faithful  and  persistent  application  of  the  critical 


*  For  an  elaboration  and  explanation  of  these  principles  we  must  refer  to  the 
author's  paper  on  the  arg;unient  e  stientio,  read  before  the  Society  of  Biblical 
Literature  and  Exegesis  in  June  last,  and  shortly  to  be  published  in  their  Jour' 
tta/. 


92  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

tests  will  determine  the  forgeries  and  the  pseudepigraphs 
and  assign  them  their  real  literary  position.  As  to  the 
relative  value  of  the  internal  and  external  evidence  we 
cannot  do  better  than  use  the  judicious  words  of  Sir 
Wm.  Hamilton  :  "  But  if  our  criticism  from  the  internal 
grounds  alone  be,  on  the  one  hand,  impotent  to  estab- 
lish, it  is,  on  the  other  hand,  omnipotent  to  disprove."  ^ 
The  importance  of  this  higher  criticism  is  so  well 
stated  by  Du  Pin,  that  we  will  again  quote  him : 

"  Criticism  is  a  kind  of  torch,  that  lights  and  conducts  us  in  the 
obscure  tracts  of  antiquity,  by  making  us  to  distinguish  truth  from 
falsehood,  history  from  fable,  and  antiquity  from  novelty,  'Tis  by 
this  means,  that  in  our  times  we  have  disengaged  ourselves  from  an 
infinite  number  of  very  common  errors,  into  which  our  fathers  fell 
for  want  of  examining  things  by  the  rules  of  true  criticism.  For  'tis 
a  surprising  thing  to  consider  how  many  spurious  books  we  find  in 
antiquity  ;  nay,  even  in  the  first  ages  of  the  Church  "  (in  /,  c,  p.  vii.). 

In  order  to  illustrate  these  principles  of  the  higher 
criticism,  we  shall  present  a  few  specimens  of  their  appli- 
cation. 

The  first  illustration  that  we  shall  give  is  with  refer- 
ence to  the  question  of  integrity.  The  so-called  Apos- 
tles' Creed  is  the  most  sacred  writing  exterior  to  the 
canon  of  Scripture. 

"  Till  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  it  was  the  current  be- 
lief of  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant  Christendom  that  the  Apos- 
tles' Creed  was '  membratum  articulatumque,'  composed  by  the  apos- 
tles in  Jerusalem  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  or  before  their  separation  ; 
to  secure  unity  of  teaching,  each  contributing  an  article  (hence  the 
somewhat  arbitrary  division  into  twelve  articles)," 

The  arguments  adduced  by  Dr,  Schaff  to  prove  that 
this  tradition  is  false,  are:  (i)  The  intrinsic  improba- 


*  LoS'C,  p.  471. 


THE  BIBLE  AND  CRITICISM.  93 

bllity  of  such  a  mechanical  composition.  (2)  The  silence 
of  Scripture.  (3)  The  silence  of  the  apostolic  fathers  and 
all  the  Ante-Nicene  and  Nicene  fathers  and  synods.  (4) 
The  variety  in  form  of  the  creed  down  to  the  eighth 
century.  (5)  The  fact  that  the  Apostles'  Creed  never 
had  any  currency  in  the  East  where  the  Nicene  creed 
occupies  its  place.* 

Lumby  goes  into  the  matter  of  the  structure  of  the 
creed  more  fully,  and  shows  the  process  of  its  formation 
and  all  the  changes  through  which  it  passed,  until  it 
gradually,  in  750  A.D.,  assumed  its  present  stereotyped 
form.f 

The  best  illustration  of  the  higher  'criticism  with 
reference  to  the  question  of  authenticity,  is  afforded 
by  Bentley  in  his  celebrated  work  on  the  epistles  of 
Phalaris.ij;  Bentley  proves  these  epistles  to  be  forgeries 
of  a  sophist:  I.  By  internal  evidence,  (i)  They  do  not 
accord  with  their  presumed  age,  but  with  other  ages. 
They  mention  id)  Aloesa,  a  city  which  was  not  built  till 
140  years  after  the  latest  year  of  Phalaris  ;  {I))  Theridean 
cups,  which  were  not  known  until  120  years  after  the 
death  of  Phalaris ;  [c)  Messana,  as  a  different  city  from 
Zaude,  whereas  it  was  a  later  name  for  the  same  city, 
and  not  changed  till  60  years  after  the  death  of  Pha- 
laris ;  {d')  Taurominium,  140  years  before  it  was  ever 
thought  of. 

(2)  Differences  of  style  :  {a)  the  use  of  the  Attic  dialect 
instead  of  the  Doric,  the  speech  of  Phalaris,  and  indeed 
not  the  old  Attic,  but  the  new  Attic  that  was  not  used 
till  centuries  after  Phalaris'  time. 


*  Schaff,  Creeds  of  Christendom^  New  York,  1877,  I.,  p.  19. 
t  Lumby,  History  of  the  Creeds,  Cambridge,  1873,  p.  169,  seq. 
X  A  Dissertation  upon  the  Epistles  of  Phalaris,  London,  1699,  a  new  edition, 
edited  by  Wilhelni  Wagner,  London,  1883. 


94  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

(3)  Differences  of  thought :  (a)  reference  to  tragedy  be- 
fore tragedy  came  into  existence ;  (d)  use  of  Attic  and 
not  Sicilian  talents  in  speaking  of  money ;  (c)  use  of  the 
word  Ttpovota  for  Divine  Providence,  which  was  not 
used  before  Plato,  and  Hoajiio?  for  the  universe,  which 
was  not  so  used  before  Pythagoras ;  {d)  inconsistencies 
between  the  ideas  and  matter  of  the  epistle,  which  are 
those  of  a  sophist,  and  the  historical  character  of 
Phalaris  as  a  politician  and  tyrant. 

(4)  Relation  to  other  writers.  He  uses  Herodotus, 
Demosthenes,  Euripides. 

II.  The  external  evidences  are :  [^^  testimony.  Atossa 
is  said  to  have  been  the  first  inventor  of  epistles. 
Hence  those  that  carry  the  name  of  Phalaris  two  gener- 
ations earlier  must  be  impostures. 

(6)  Silence.  There  is  a  thousand  years  of  silence  as 
to  these  epistles.  "  For  had  our  letter  been  used  or 
transcribed  during  that  thousand  years,  somebody  would 
have  spoken  of  it,  especially  since  so  many  of  the  an- 
cients had  occasion  to  do  so ;  so  that  their  silence  is  a 
direct  argument  that  they  never  had  heard  of  them."* 
We  have  dwelt  at  some  length  upon  the  principles  and 
methods  of  the  higher  criticism,  because  of  their  great 
importance  in  our  day  with  reference  to  the  Scriptures 
and  the  lack  of  information  concerning  them  that  pre- 
vails to  an,  astonishing  degree  among  men  who  make 
some  pretensions  to  scholarship. 

III.   THE  CRITICISM   OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Thus  far  Biblical  Criticism  has  derived  from  other 
branches  of  criticism  the  principles  and  methods  of  its 
work.     Has  it  not,  however,  some  peculiar  features  of 


*  New  edition,  1883,  p.  481. 


THE  BIBLE  AND  CRITICISM.  95 

its  own,  as  it  has  to  do  with  the  sacred  canon  of  the 
Christian  Church?  Does  the  fact  that  the  canon  of 
sacred  Scripture  is  holy,  inspired,  and  of  divine  author- 
ity, hft  it  above  criticism,  or  does  it  give  additional 
features  of  criticism  that  enable  us  to  test  the  genuine- 
ness of  these  claims  respecting  it  ?  We  hold  that  the 
latter  is  the  true  and  only  safe  position,  and  that  it 
should  be  our  effort  to  determine  these  principles  and 
methods.  We  reserve  this  question  for  our  following 
chapter.  In  the  meanwhile  we  have  to  meet  on  the 
threshold  of  our  work  the  a  priori  objections  that  would 
obstruct  our  progress  in  the  application  of  the  principles 
and  methods  of  criticism  to  the  Bible. 

Biblical  Criticism  is  confronted  by  traditional  views  of 
the  Bible  that  do  not  wish  to  be  disturbed,  and  by  dog- 
matic statements  respecting  the  Bible  which  decline 
reinvestigation  and  revision.  The  claim  is  put  forth 
that  these  traditional  views  and  dogmatic  statements  are 
in  accordance  with  the  Scriptures  and  the  symbols  of 
the  Church,  and  that  the  orthodox  faith  is  put  in  peril 
by  criticism. 

It  should  be  distinctly  recognized  at  the  outset  that 
such  claims  as  these  can  only  influence  the  adherents  of 
the  church,  and,  at  the  utmost,  debar  them  from  the 
exercise  of  criticism.  They  cannot  be  more  than  amus- 
ing to  the  unbelieving  and  the  sceptical,  who  care  but 
little  for  the  church  and  still  less  for  theologians  and 
their  orthodoxy.  They  will  use  the  tests  of  criticism 
without  restraint.  We  cannot  prevent  them.  The 
question  is  whether  Christian  scholars  also  shall  be 
entitled  to  use  them  in  defence  of  the  Scriptures,  or 
whether  that  defence  is  to  be  left  in  the  hands  of  dog- 
,  matic  theologians  and  scholastics.  A  still  further  re- 
mark is  necessary  just   here  in  the  interests  of  truth 


96  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

and  honesty.  Why  should  the  Scriptures  fear  the  most 
searching  investigation?  If  they  are  truly  the  Word  of 
God  they  will  maintain  themselves  and  vindicate  them- 
selves in  the  battle  of  criticism.  If  we  are  sure  of  this, 
let  us  rejoice  in  the  conflict  that  will  lead  to  victory  ;• 
if  we  are  in  doubt  of  it,  it  is  best  that  our  doubts 
should  be  removed  as  soon  as  possible.  Then  let  the 
tests  be  applied,  and  let  us  know  in  whom  and  what  we 
believe.* 

It  is  pretended  that  the  Church  doctrine  of  inspira- 
tion is  in  peril,  and  that  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures 
is  thereby  undermined.  If  there  were  one  clearly  de- 
fined orthodox  doctrine  of  inspiratipn  to  which  all 
evangelical  men  agreed,  as  supported  by  Scripture  and 
the  Protestant  confessions,  our  task  would  be  easier. 
But,  in  fact,  there  are  various  theories  of  inspiration, 
and  several  ways  of  stating  the  doctrine  of  inspiration 
that  are  without  support  in  Scripture  or  symbol.  It  is 
necessary,  therefore,  to  discriminate,  in  order  to  deter- 
mine exactly  what  is  in  peril,  whether  inspiration  itself 
and  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  or  some  particular 
and  false  theory  of  inspiration  and  the  authority  of  some 
theologian  or  school  of  theology. 

The  doctrine  of  inspiration  may  be  constructed  (i) 
by  a  careful,  painstaking  study  of  the  sacred  Scriptures 
themselves,  gathering  together  their  testimony  as  to 
their  own  origin,  character,  design,  value,  and  authority. 
This  gives  us  the  biblical  doctrine  of  the  Scriptures  and 
the  doctrine  of  inspiration  as  a  part  of  Biblical  Theology. 
(2)  The  doctrine  of  inspiration  may  be  constructed  from 
a  study  of  the  symbolical  books  of  the  Church,  which 
express  the  faith  of  the  Church  as  attained  in  the  great 


*  Robert  Rainy,  Bibie  and  Criticism,  London,  1878,  p.  33. 


THE  BIBLE  AND  CRITICISM.  97 

crises  of  its  history,  in  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  in  the 
experiences  and  life  of  men.  This  gives  us  the  symbol- 
ical, or  orthodox,  or  Church  doctrine  of  inspiration.  (3) 
The  doctrine  of  inspiration  may  be  constructed  by  a 
study  of  Scripture  and  symbol,  and  the  logical  unfold- 
ing of  the  results  of  a  more  extended  study  of  the 
whole  subject  in  accordance  with  the  dominant  philo- 
sophical and  theological  principles  of  the  times.  This 
gives  us  the  dogmatic,  or  school,  or  traditional  doctrine 
of  inspiration  as  it  has  been  established  in  particular 
schools  of  theology,  and  has  become  traditional  in  the 
long-continued  teaching  of  the  Church  and  the  pulpit,  in 
the  various  particular  theories  of  inspiration  that  have 
been  formulated. 

As  we  rise  in  the  doctrinal  process  from  the  sim- 
ple biblical  statements,  unformulated  as  they  lie  in  the 
sacred  writings  or  formulated  in  Biblical  Theology,  to 
the  more  complex  and  abstract  statements  of  the  sym- 
bols expressing  the  formulated  consensus  of  the  leaders 
of  the  Church  in  the  formative  periods  of  history,  and 
then  to  the  more  theoretical  and  scholastic  statements 
of  the  doctrinal  treatises  of  the  theologians,  while  the 
doctrine  becomes  more  and  more  complex,  massive,  con- 
sistent, and  imposing,  and  seems,  therefore,  to  become 
more  authoritative  and  binding ;  in  reality  the  authority 
diminishes  in  this  relative  advance  in  systematization,  so 
that  what  is  gained  in  extension  is  lost  in  intension  ;  for 
the  construction  is  a  construction  of  sacred  materials  by 
human  and  fallible  minds,  with  defective  logic,  failing 
sometimes  to  justify  premises,  and  leaping  to  conclu- 
sions that  cannot  always  be  defended,  and  in  a  line  and 
direction  determined  by  the  temporary  and  provisional 
conditions  and  necessities  of  the  times,  neglecting  modj^ 
fying  circumstances  and  conditions.  The  concrete  that 
5 


98  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

the  Bible  gives  us  is  for  all  time,  as  it  is  the  living  and 
eternal  substance  ;  though  changeable,  it  reproduces  and 
so  perpetuates  itself  in  a  wonderful  variety  of  forms  of 
beauty,  yet  all  blending  and  harmonizing  as  the  colors 
of  the  clouds  and  skies  under  the  painting  of  the  sun- 
beams ;  but  the  abstract  is  the  formal  and  the  perish- 
able, as  it  is  broken  through  and  shattered  by  the  pulsa- 
tions and  struggles  of  the  living  and  developing  truth  of 
God,  ever  striving  for  expression  and  adaptation  to 
every  different  condition  of  mankind,  in  the  different 
epochs  and  among  the  various  races  of  the  world. 

The  course  of  religious  history  has  clearly  established 
the  principle  that  there  is  a  constant  tendency  in  all  re- 
ligions, and  especially  in  the  Christian  religion,  in  the 
systematic  or  dogmatic  statement  to  constrain  the  sym- 
bol as  well  as  the  Scriptures  into  the  requirements  of 
the  particular  formative  principle  and  the  needs  of  the 
particular  epoch.  The  dogmatic  scheme  is  too  often 
the  mould  into  which. the  gold  of  the  Scriptures  and  the 
silver  of  the  creed  are  poured  to  coin  a  series  of  defini- 
tions, and  fashion  a  system  of  theology  which  not  only 
breaks  up  the  concrete  and  harmonious  whole  of  the 
Scriptures  into  fragments,  stamping  them  with  the  im- 
print of  the  particular  conception  of  the  theologian  in 
order  to  their  reconstruction;  but  not  infrequently  the 
constructed  system  becomes  an  idol  of  the  theologian 
and  his  pupils,  as  if  it  were  the  orthodox,  the  divine 
truth,  while  a  mass  of  valuable  scriptural  and  symboli- 
cal material  is  cast  aside  in  the  process,  and  lies  neg- 
lected in  the  workshop.  In  course  of  time  the  symbols 
as  well  as  the  Scriptures  are  overlaid  with  glosses  and 
perplexing  explanations,  so  that  they  become  either 
dark,  obscure,  and  uncertain  to  the  ordinary  reader,  or 
else  have  their  meanings  deflected  and  perverted,  until 


THE  BIBLE  AND  CRITICISM.  99 

they  are  once  more  grasped  by  a  living,  energetical  faith 
in  a  revived  state  of  the  Church,  and  burst  forth  from 
their  scholastic  fetters,  that  Scripture,  creed,  and  life 
may  once  more  correspond.  While  traditionalism  and 
scholasticism  have  not  prevailed  in  the  Protestant 
Church  to  the  same  extent  as  in  the  Greek  and  Roman 
churches,  for  the  right  of  private  judgment  and  the  uni- 
versal priesthood  of  believers  have  maintained  their 
ground  with  increasing  vigor  in  Western  Europe  and 
America  since  the  Reformation ;  yet  it  is  no  less  true 
that  the  principle  of  traditionalism  is  ever  at  work  in 
the  chairs  of  theology  and  in  the  pulpits  of  the  Church ; 
so  that  in  seeking  for  truth  and  in  estimating  what  is 
binding  on  faith  and  conscience,  even  Protestants  must 
distinctly  separate  the  three  things :  Bible,  symbol,  and 
tradition ;  the  Bible,  the  sole  infallible  norm  ;  the  sym- 
bol, binding  those  who  hold  to  the  body  of  which  it  is 
the  banner ;  while  tradition  demands  at  the  most  our  re- 
spect, and  reverence,  and  careful  consideration,  and  the 
presumption  in  its  favor;  but  must  be  tried  and  criti- 
cised by  every  thinking  man,  and  every  living,  energetic 
Christian. 

It  is  of  vast  importance  that  we  should  make  these 
distinctions  on  the  threshold  of  the  study  of  the  critical 
theories ;  for  there  is  no  field  in  which  tradition  has 
been  more  hasty  in  its  conclusions,  more  busy  in  their 
formation,  more  dogmatic  and  sensitive  to  criticism, 
more  reluctant  and  stubborn  to  give  way  to  the  truth, 
than  in  the  sacred  fields  of  the  Divine  Word.  Thus 
criticism  is  confronted  at  the  outset  now  as  ever  with 
two  a  priori  objections. 

1st.  There  are  those  who  maintain  that  their  tradi- 
tional views  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  are  inseparably 
bound  up  with   the  church  doctrine  of   inspiration,  so 


100  BIBLICAL  STUDr. 

that  even  if  they  should  be  in  some  respects  doubtful 
or  erroneous,  they  must  be  left  alone  for  fear  of  the  de- 
struction of  the  doctrine  of  inspiration  itself.  This  is 
true  of  those  traditional  theories  of  inspiration  which  in 
some  quarters  have  expanded  so  as  to  cover  a  large  part 
of  the  ground  of  Exegetical  Theology,  and  commit  them- 
selves to  theories  of  text  and  author,  date,  style,  and  in- 
tegrity of  writings,  in  accordance  with  a  common,  but, 
in  our  judgment,  an  injudicious  method  of  discussing 
the  whole  Bible  under  the  head  of  bibliology  in  the  pro- 
legomena of  the  dogmatic  system  ;  but  this  is  not  true  of 
the  symbolical  doctrine  of  inspiration,  still  less  of  the 
scriptural  doctrine.  The  most  that  this  objection  can 
require  of  the  critics  is,  that  they  should  be  careful  and 
cautious  of  giving  offence,  or  of  needlessly  shocking  prej- 
udices ;  that  they  should  be  respectful  and  reverent  of 
the  faith  of  the  people  and  of  revered  theologians ;  but 
it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  it  will  make  them  recreant 
to  their  trust  of  seeking  earnestly,  patiently,  persist- 
ently, and  prayerfully  for  the  truth  of  God.  It  may  be 
found  that  the  school  doctrines  of  inspiration  have  ob- 
truded themselves  in  place  of  the  symbolical  and  script- 
ural doctrine,  and  it  may  be  necessary  to  destroy  these 
school  doctrines  in  order  to  the  safety  of  the  biblical 
and  symbolical  doctrine.  However  distressing  this  may 
be  to  certain  dogmatic  divines  and  their  adherents,  it 
may  afford  gratification  to  all  sincere  lovers  of  the  truth 
of  God. 

2d.  There  are  those  who  claim  that  their  traditional 
theory  is  the  logical  unfolding  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Symbols  and  the  Scriptures.  But  this  is  begging  the 
very  question  at  issue  which  will  not  be  yielded.  Why 
should  dogmatic  theologians  claim  exemption  from  criti- 
cism and  the  testing  of  the  grounds  of  their  systems? 


THE  BIBLE  AND  CRmCISM.  IQl 

Such  an  arbitrary  claim  for  deductions  and  conse- 
quences is  one  that  no  true- critic  or  historian  ought  to 
concede;  for,  by  so  doing,  he  abandons  at  once  the 
right  and  ground  of  criticism,  and  the  inductive  meth- 
ods of  historical  and  scientific  investigation,  and  sacri- 
fices his  material  to  the  dogmatist  and  scholastic,  sur- 
rendering the  concrete  for  the  abstract.  The  very  sensi- 
tiveness to  criticism  displayed  in  some  quarters  justifies 
the  critics  in  their  suspicion  that  the  theories  are  weak 
and  will  not  sustain  investigation. 

Traditional  theories  cannot  overcome  critical  theories 
with  either  of  these  a  priori  objections  of  apprehended 
peril  to  faith  or  logical  inconsistencies,  but  must  submit 
to  the  test  of  the  symbol  and  the  Scriptures  to  which 
the  critics  appeal  as  the  arbiters  against  tradition.  The 
characteristic  principle  of  Puritanism  is  that : 

"  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  hath  left  it  free  from 
the  doctrines  and  commandments  of  men,  which  are  in  anything 
contrary  to  His  Word  or  beside  it  in  matters  of  faith  and  worship  ; 
so  that,  to  believe  such  doctrine,  or  to  obey  such  commandments 
out  of  conscience,  is  to  betray  true  liberty  of  conscience ;  and  the 
requiring  an  implicit  faith,  and  an  absolute  and  blind  obedience,  is 
to  destroy  liberty  of  conscience  and  reason  also."*. 

Biblical  criticism  bases  its  historic  right  on  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Reformation  and  of  Puritanism  over  against 
the  Roman  Catholic  principle  of  the  supremacy  of  tradi- 
tion and  dogma.  On  this  basis  the  Protestant  symbols 
have  been  accepted  and  subscribed  by  honest  and  faith- 
ful men  for  ^€\x  face  value  for  all  that  is  fairly  contained 
therein,  and  not  for  certain  unknown  and  undiscovered 
consequences  which  n^^y  have  a  chance  majority  or  the 
most  authoritative  teachers.  Symbols  of  faith  are  the  ex- 

»  Westminster  Con/.  0/ Faith,  xx.  2 ;  see  also  A.  F.  Mitchell,  The  Westmin- 
ster Assembly :  its  History  and  Standards,  London,  1883,  pp.  8,  seq.,  465. 


102  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

pression  of  the  faith  of  those  who  constructed  them,  and 
of  those  who  subsequently- adopted  them,  so  far  as  they 
give  expression  to  Christian  doctrine ;  but,  with  regard 
to  those  questions  not  covered  by  their  statements, 
which  they  may  have  held  in  abeyance,  or  purposely 
omitted  on  account  of  disagreement,  and  in  order  to  lib- 
erty, or  because  they  were  not  suited  for  a  national  con- 
fession or  a  child's  catechism,  or  because  they  had  not 
yet  arisen  in  the  field  of  controversy, — to  bring  these  in 
by  the  plea  of  logical  deduction,  is  to  elaborate  and  en- 
large-.the  creed  against  the  judgment  of  those  who 
framed  it,  is  to  usurp  the  constitutional  methods  of 
revision,  is  to  dogmatize  and  obstruct  those  active,  ener- 
getic scholars,  who,  having  accepted  them  for  their  face 
value  as  a  genuine  expression  of  their  faith,  push  forth 
into  the  unexplored  fields  of  the  Bible  and  theology,  in 
order,  by  the  inductive  method  and  the  generalization 
of  facts,  rather  than  by  deductions  from  symbolic  or 
scholastic  statements,  to  win  new  triumphs  for  their 
Divine  Master. 

These  preliminary  observations  are  necessary,  in  order 
to  clear  the  ground  and  make  the  distinction  evident 
between  the  symbolical,  the  truly  orthodox  doctrine  of 
inspiration  from  which  true  criticism  has  nothing  to  fear, 
and  any  traditional,  scholastic,  or  professedly  orthodox 
doctrine  of  inspiration,  such  as  those  that  have  waged 
war  with  criticism  so  often  since  the  Reformation. 

Recent  critical  theories  arise  and  work  as  did  their  pred- 
ecessors, in  the  various  departments  of  exegetical  the- 
ology. Here  is  their  strength,  that  they  antagonize 
scholastic  dogma  with  the  Bible^^tself,  and  appeal  from 
scJiool 'CtxitoXo^  \.o  biblical  \.\v&o\o^ .  Unless  traditional 
theories  of  inspiration  can  vindicate  themselves  on  Bible 
grounds,  meet  the  critics,  and  overcome  them  in  fair 


THE  BIBLE  AND  CRITICISM.  J 03 

conflict,  in  the  sacred  fields  of  the  Divine  Word,  sooner 
or  later  traditional  theories  will  be  driven  from  the  field. 
It  will  not  do  to  antagonize  critical  theories  of  the  Bible 
with  traditional  theories  of  the  Bible,  for  the  critic  ap- 
peals to  history  against  tradition,  to  an  array  of  facts 
against  so-called  inferences,  to  the  laws  of  probation 
against  dogmatic  assertion,  to  the  Divine  Spirit  speaking 
in  the  Scriptures  against  external  authority.  History, 
facts,  truth,  the  laws  of  thought,  are  all  divine  prod- 
ucts, and  most  consistent  with  the  Divine  Word,  and 
they  will  surely  prevail. 

It  is  significant  that  the  great  majority  of  professional 
biblical  scholars  in  the  various  universities  and  theologi- 
cal halls  of  the  world,  embracing  those  of  the  greatest 
learning,  industry,  and  piety,  demand  a  revision  of  tradi- 
tional theories  of  the  Bible,  on  account  of  a  large  induc- 
tion of  new  facts  from  the  Bible  and  history.  These 
critics  must  be  met  with  argument  and  candid  reasoning 
as  to  these  facts  and  their  interpretation,  and  cannot  be 
overcome  by  mere  cries  of  alarm  for  the  Church  and  the 
Bible  which,  in  their  last  analysis,  usually  amount  to 
nothing  more  than  peril  to  certain  favorite  views.  What 
peril  can  come  to  the  Scriptures  from  a  more  profound 
critical  study  of  them  ?  The  peril  is  to  scholastic  dog- 
mas and  to  tradition.  But  what  then  are  we  contending 
for  as  evangelical  men,  for  the  faith  of  the  Scriptures,  the 
faith  of  Wittenberg,  of  Geneva,  and  of  Westminster,  or 
for  the  faith  of  the  Reformed  scholastics,  and  the  faith  of 
certain  schools  of  theology  and  their  chiefs?  We  must 
recognize  in  order  to  meet  this  issue,  upon  which  every- 
thing depends,  that  biblical  critics  cannot  afford  to  carry 
the  load  of  the  school  theology  into  the  conflicts  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  but  must  strip  to  the  symbols  for  a 
conflict  with  rationalism  and  materialism ;  and  we  should 


104  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

not  fear  as  evangelical  biblical  scholars  to  accept  the 
challenge  of  our  adversaries  and  go  forth  from  the  breast- 
works of  our  symbols  to  meet  them  in  fair  and  honor- 
able warfare  in  open  field  with  the  biblical  material  itself 
on  the  principles  of  induction.*  '  The  sword  of  the 
Spirit  alone  will  conquer  in  this  warfare.  Are  Christian 
men  afraid  to  put  it  to  the  test  ?  For  this  is  a  conflict 
after  all  between  true  criticism  and  false  criticism ;  be- 
tween the  criticism  which  is  the  product  of  the  evangel- 
ical spirit  of  the  Reformation,  and  critical  principles 
that  are  the  product  of  deism  and  rationalism.  Evan- 
gelical criticism  has  been  marching  from  conquest  to 
conquest,  though  far  too  often  at  a  sad  disadvantage,  like 
a  storming  party  who  have  sallied  forth  from  their  breast- 
works to  attack  the  trenches  of  the  enemy,  finding  in 
the  hot  encounter  that  the  severest  fire  and  gravest  peril 
are  from  the  misdirected  batteries  of  their  own  line:  Shall 
evangelical  criticism  in  searching  the  Scriptures  be  per- 
mitted to  struggle  unhindered  with  rationalistic  criticism, 
or  must  it  protect  itself  also  from  scholastic  dogmatism? 
We  do  not  deny  the  right  of  dogmatism  and  th.Q  a  priori 
method,  nor  the  worth  of  tradition,  within  their  proper 
spheres ;  but  we  maintain  the  equal  right  of  criticism  and 
the  inductive  method,  and  their  far  greater  importance 
in  the  acquisition  of  true  and  reliable  knowledge.  If 
criticism  and  dogmatism  are  harnessed  together,  a  span 
of  twin  steeds,  they  will  draw  the  car  of  theology  rap- 
idly toward  its  highest  ideal ;  but  pulling  in  opposite  di- 
rections, especially  in  the  present  crisis,  they  will  tear 
it  to  pieces. 


*  See  author's  article  on  the  Right,  Duty,  and  Limits  of  Biblical  Criticism, 
Presbyterian  Review,  II.,  p.  557,  seq. ;  Willis  J.  Beecher,  art.  Logical  Meth- 
ods  of  Prof.  Kuenen,  Presbyterian  Review,  III.,  p.  703 ;  Francis  L.  Patton, 
art.  Pentateuchal  Criticism,  Presbyterian  Review,  IV.,  p.  356,  seq. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

Biblical  Criticism  in  its  larger  sense,  embracing 
the  several  departments  of  biblical  literature  after  its 
early  activity  in  the  Christian  schools  of  Alexandria  and 
Syria,  and  in  the  rabbinical  schools  of  Tiberias  and 
Babylon,  in  the  study  of  the  canon  and  the  text  of 
Scripture,  gave  place  to  a  long  supremacy  of  dogma 
and  tradition.  The  Septuagint  version  became  the  in- 
spired text  to  the  Greek  church,  the  Massoretic  text  of 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures  to  the  Jews,  and  the  Vulgate 
version  to  the  Roman  church.  The  canon  of  the  Old 
Testament  having  been  determined  by  the  assembly  at 
Jamnia  toward  the  close  of  the  first  Christian  century 
by  rabbinical  authority,  became  limited  in  the  Talmud 
to  the  24  books.  These  are  mentioned  in  the  order: 
(i)  The  five  books  of  the  law;  (2)  eight  books  of  the 
prophets — Joshua,  Judges,  Samuel,  Kings,  Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel,  Isaiah,  and  the  twelve  minor  prophets ;  (3) 
eleven  other  books — Ruth,  Psalms,  Job,  Proverbs,  Eccle- 
siastes,  Song  of  Songs,  Lamentations,  Daniel,  Esther, 
Ezra,  and  Chronicles.* 

The  Christian  church  made  no  official  determination 
of  the  canon  of  Scripture  save  in  provincial  synods,  such 
as  the  Council  of'Laodicea  and  the  synod  of  Carthage, 


*  Talm.  Bab  It,  Bala  BatJira,  p.  14  «• 

5*  (105) 


IQQ  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

both  in  the  fourth  century,  whose  decisions  express  the 
differences  of  opinion  which  have  always  been  in  the 
church.  In  part  the  theologians  have  followed  the 
stricter  Hieronymian  canon  which  corresponds  with  the 
Talmudic  with  reference  to  the  Old  Testament,  but 
chiefly  the  fuller  Hellenistic  and  Augustinian  canon 
including  the  apocryphal  books  of  the  Old  Testament. 
In  the  New  Testament,  by  general  consent,  the  four 
gospels,  the  book  of  Acts,  the  thirteen  epistles  of  Paul, 
the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  first  epistle  of  Peter, 
and  first  epistle  of  John  were  recognized,  while  the 
doubts  of  the  early  church  as  to  the  epistles  of  James, 
Jude,  2d  Peter,  2d  and  3d  John,  and  the  Apocalypse 
became  more  and  more  feeble  and  infrequent.*  These 
sacred  books  were  interpreted  by  the  body  of  tradition 
that  had  become  solidified  in  the  Talmud  among  the 
Jews,  and  in  the  fathers  and  schoolmen  in  the  various 
Christian  churches. 

I.    THE    CANON   OF  THE   REFORMERS. 

The  Protestant  Reformation  was  a  great  critical 
revival,  due  largely  to  the  new  birth  of  learning  in 
Western  Europe.  The  emigration  of  the  fugitive 
Greeks  from  Constantinople  after  its  capture  by  the 
Turks,  had  planted  a  young  Greek  culture.  A  stream 
of  thought  burst  forth,  and  poured  like  a  quicken- 
ing flood  strong  and  deep  over  Europe.  Cardinal 
Ximenes,  with  the  aid  of  a  number  of  Christian  and 
Jewish  scholars,  such  as  Alphonso  de  Zamora,  Demetrius 
Ducas,  and  Alphonso  de  Alcala,  issued' the  world-re- 
nowned Complutensian  Polyglot,  15 13-17.     The  Greek 


*  Reuss,  Histoire  du  Canon  des  Saintes  Ecritures  11.  edition,  Strasbourg^, 
1864,  pp.  191  seq.,  218  seq.y  221  seq.^  274  seq.  ;  Charteris,  The  New  Testa- 
ment Scriptures,  N.  Y.,  1882,  p.  163,  seq. 


THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE.  IQT 

New  Testament  was  studied  with  avidity  by  a  series  of 
scholars,  among  whom  Erasmus  was  pre-eminent.  He 
published  the  first  Greek  Testament  in  1516.  Elias 
Levita  and  Jacob  ben  Chajim,  in  whom  Jewish  learning 
culminated,  introduced  Christians  into  a  knowledge  of 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  Reuchlin  laid  the  foundation 
for  Hebrew  scholarship  among  Christians,  by  publish- 
ing the  first  Hebrew  grammar  and  lexicon  combined  in 
1506.*  This  return  to  the  original  text  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  aroused  the  suspicions  of  the  scholas- 
tics and  monks,  and  the  new  learning  was  assailed  with 
bitterness.  Even  Levita  had  to  defend  himself  against 
the  charge  of  heterodoxy  for  teaching  Christians  the 
Hebrew  language,  the  law  of  Moses,  and  the  Talmud.f 
But  the  reformers  took  their  stand  as  one  man  for  the 
critical  study  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  and  investigated 
the  original  texts  under  the  lead  of  Erasmus,  Elias 
Levita,  and  Reuchlin,  and  laid  down  what  must  be 
regarded  as  the  fundamental  principle  of  Biblical  Criti- 
cism for  the  determination  of  the  canon.  Thus  Luther 
in  his  controversy  with  Eck  said,  "  The  Church  cannot 
give  any  more  authority  or  power  than  it  has  of  itself. 
A  council  cannot  make  that  to  be  of  Scripture  which  is 
not  by  nature  of  Scripture."  %     Calvin  says : 

"  But  there  has  very  generally  prevailed  a  most  pernicious  error 
that  the  Scriptures  have  only  so  much  weight  as  is  conceded  to 
them  by  the  suffrages  of  the  Church,  as  though  the  eternal  and  in- 
violable truth  of  God  depended  on  the  arbitrary  will  of  men."  .... 
"  For,  as  God  alone  is  a  sufiBcient  witness  of  Himself  in  His  own 


*  Gesenius,  Gesch.  d.  hebr.  Sprach.y  p.  io6,  seq. 

+  See  his  Massoreth  Ha-Massoreth,  edited  by  Ginsberg,  London,  1867,  p.  97, 
scq. 

X  Disputatio   excel,   theolog.   Joh.  Eccii.  et  Lutheri,  hist.   III.,   129,  seq.; 
Berber,  Zji  Bible  au  Siezihne  Siicle,  Paris,  1879,  P-  86. 


108  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Word,  so  also  the  Word  will  never  gain  credit  in  the  hearts  of  men 
till  it  be  confirmed  by  the  internal  testimony  of  the  Spirit.  It  is 
necessary,  therefore,  that  the  same  Spirit,  who  spake  by  the  mouths 
of  the  prophets,  should  penetrate  into  our  hearts,  to  convince  us 
that  they  faithfully  delivered  the  oracles  which  were  divinely  in- 
trusted to  them."  * 

This  principle  is  well  expressed  in  the  2d  Helvetic 
Confession,  the  most  honored  in  the  Reformed  church : 

"We  believe  and  confess  the  canonical  Scriptures  of  the  holy 
prophets  to  be  the  very  true  Word  of  God  and  to  have  sufficient 
authority  of  themselves,  not  of  men  "  (Chap.  I.).  "Therefore  in 
controversies  of  religion  or  matters  of  faith  we  cannot  admit  any 
other  judge  than  God  Himself,  pronouncing  by  the  holy  Scriptures 
what  is  true  and  what  is  false ;  what  is  to  be  followed,  or  what  is  to 
be  avoided  "  (Chap.  II.). 

The  Galilean  Confession  gives  a  similar  statement : 

"  We  know  these  books  to  be  canonical,  and  the  sure  rule  of  our 
faith,  not  so  much  by  the  common  accord  and  consent  of  the  Church, 
as  by  the  testimony  and  inward  persuasion  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which 
enables  us  to  distinguish  them  from  other  ecclesiastical  books " 
(IV.  Art.).t 

Thus  while  other  testimony  is  valuable  and  important, 
yet,  the  evangelical  test  of  the  canonicity  and  interpre- 
tation of  the  Scriptures  was,  God  Himself  speaking  in 
and  through  them  to  His  people.  This  alone  gave  the 
fides  divina.  This  was  the  so-called  formal  principle  of 
the  Reformation,  no  less  important  than  the  so-called 
material  principle  of  justification  by  faith.:|: 

The  reformers  applied  this  critical  test  to  the  tradi- 


*  Institutes,  I.  7.  +  See  also  the  Belgian  Confession,  Article  V. 

X  Domer,  Gesch.  Prot.  Theo.,  p.  234,  seq.,  379,  seq.  Julius  MQller,  Das 
Verhaltniss  zwischen  der  Wxrksamkeit  des  heil.  Geistes  und  dem  Gnaden- 
mittel  des  gottlichen  Wortes,  in  his  Dogntqf,  Abhfindiungen,  1871,  p.  139,  seq. 
Reuss,  Ristoire  du  Canon,  p.  308,  seq. 


THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE.  109 

tional  theories  of  the  Bible,  and  eliminated  the  apocry- 
phal books  from  the  canon.  They  also  revived  the  an- 
cient doubts  as  to  Esther,  Ecclesiastes,  Song  of  Songs, 
Epistle  of  James,  2d  Peter,  Jude,  and  the  Apocalypse. 
The  Reformed  symbols  elaborated  the  formal  principle 
further  than  the  Lutheran,  and  ordinarily  specified  the 
books  that  they  regarded  as  canonical.  In  this  they  re- 
jected the  traditions  of  the  early  Christian  church  which 
followed  the  Hellenistic  rather  than  the  Palestinian  Jews, 
and,  in  their  use  of  the  Septuagint  version,  used  also  the 
apocryphal  writings,  and  did  not  sharply  separate  them 
from  the  canonical ;  indeed,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
critics,  such  as  Origen  and  Jerome,  they  cited  without 
discrimination  the  many  Jewish  apocalypses  and  Sibyl- 
line oracles  which  sprang  up  in  the  first  and  second  cent- 
uries of  our  era,  as  well  as  in  the  first  and  second  centu- 
ries B.C.*  The  church  of  Rome,  in  accordance  with  its 
reliance  upon  the  support  of  tradition,  determined  the 
apocryphal  books  to  be  canonical  at  the  Council  of 
Trent.  That  the  reformers  accepted  only  the  present 
canon  of  our  symbols,  excluding  the  apocryphal  books, 
was  not  due  to  the  Jewish  tradition,  which  they  did 
not  hesitate  to  dispute,  as  they  did  that  of  the  church 
itself.  It  is  doubtless  truef  that  the  reformers  fell 
back  on  the  authority  of  Jerome  in  their  determination 
of  the  canon,  as  they  did  largely  upon  Augustine  for  the 
doctrine  of  grace ;  but  this  was  in  both  cases  for  support 
against  Rome  in  authority  which  Rome  recognized, 
rather  than  as  a  basis  on  which  to  rest  their  faith  and 
criticism.      They   went    further  back   than    Jerome   to 


*  Sanday,  Value  of  the  Patristic  Writings  for  the  Criticism  and  Exegesis  of 
the  Bible.     Expositor,  Feb.,  1880.     Davidson,  Canon,  p.  loi,  seq. 

t  Robertson  Sniith,  Old  Testament  in  the  Jevuish  Church,  1881,  p.  41. 


110 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


the  evangelical  Christian  and  genuine  Hebrew  principle^ 
of  the  common  consent  of  the  believing  children  of  God, 
which  in  course  of  time  eliminated  the  sacred  canonical 
books  from  those  of  a  merely  national  and  temporary- 
character,  because  they  approved  themselves  to  their 
souls  as  the  very  word  of  God.    As  Dr.  Charteris  says  : 

"  The  Council  of  Trent  had  formally  thrown  down  a  challenge. 
It  recognized  the  canon  because  of  the  traditions  of  the  Church,  and 
on  the  same  ground  of  tradition  accepted  the  unwritten  ideas  about 
Christ  and  His  apostles,  of  which  the  Church  had  been  made  the 
custodian.  The  reformers  believed  Scripture  to  be  higher  than  the 
Church.  But  on  what  could  they  rest  their  acceptance  of  the  canon 
of  Scripture  ?  How  did  they  know  these  books  to  be  Holy  Script- 
ures, the  only  and  ultimate  divine  revelation  ?  They  answered  that 
the  divine  authority  of  Scripture  is  self-evidencing,  that  the  regener- 
ate man  needs  no  other  evidence,  and  that  only  the  regenerate  can 
appreciate  the  evidence.  It  follows  from  this,  if  he  do  not  feel  the 
evidence  of  their  contents,  any  man  may  reject  books  clainiing  to  be 
Holy  Scripture."  * 

It  is  true  this  evangelical  critical  test  did  not  solve  all 
questions.  It  left  in  doubt  several  writings  which  had 
been  regarded  as  doubtful  for  centuries.  But  uncer- 
tainty as  to  these  does  not  weaken  the  authority  of 
those  that  are  recognized  as  divine ;  it  only  affects  the 
extent  of  the  canon,  and  not  the  authority  of  those  writ- 
ings regarded  as  canonical. 

"  Suppose  we  were  not  able  to  give  positive  proof  of  the  divine  in- 
spiration of  every  particular  Book  that  is  contained  in  the  Sacred 
Records,  it, does  not  therefore  follow  that  it  was  not  inspired  ;  and 
yet  much  less  does  it  follow  that  our  religion  is  without  foundation. 
Which  I  therefore  add,  because  it  is  well  known  there  are  some  par- 
ticular Books  in  our  Bible  that  have  at  some  times  been  doubted  of 
in  the  church,  whether  they  were  inspired  or  no.     But  I  cannot  con- 


»  Tke  New  Testament  Scriptures;  their  Claims,  History,  and  Authority: 
Croall  Lectures,  i832.    N.  Y.,  1883,  p.  2C33. 


THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE.  m 

ceive  that  doubt  concerning  such  Books,  where  persons  have  sus- 
pended their  assent,  without  casting  any  unbecoming  reflections, 
have  been  a  hindrance  to  their  salvation,  while  what  they  have 
owned  and  acknowledged  for  truly  divine,  has  had  sanctifying  effect 
upon  their  hearts  and  lives."  * 

This  is  the  true  Protestant  position.  For  unless 
these  books  have  given  us  their  own  testimony  that 
they  are  divine  and  therefore  canonical,  we  do  not  re- 
ceive them  with  our  hearts ;  we  do  not  rest  our  faith 
and  life  upon  them  as  the  very  Word  of  God ;  we  give 
mere  intellectual  assent ;  we  receive  them  on  authority, 
tacitly  and  without  opposition,  and  possibly  with  the 
dogmatism  which  not  unfrequently  accompanies  incipi- 
ent doubt,  but  also  without  true  interest  and  true  faith 
and  assurance  of  their  divine  contents.  We  believe  that 
the  canon  of  Scripture  established  by  the  Reformed 
symbols  can  be  successfully  vindicated  on  Protestant 
critical  principles.  We  are  convinced  that  the  church 
has  not  been  deceived  with  regard  to  its  inspiration. 
Esther,  Ecclesiastes,  the  Song  of  Songs,  and  the  Apoc- 
alypse will  more  and  more  establish  themselves  in  the 
hearts  of  those  who  study  them.  But  we  claim  that  it 
is  illegitimate  to  first  attempt  to  prove  their  canonicity 
and  then  their  inspiration,  or  to  rely  upon  Jewish  rab- 
binical tradition  any  more  than  Roman  Catholic  tradi- 
tion, or  to  anathematize  all  who  doubt  some  of  them  in 
the  spirit  of  Rabbi  Akiba  and  the  Council  of  Trent. 
The  only  legitimate  method  is  that  of  our  fathers,  the 
Reformers  and  Puritans:  first  prove  their  inspiration 
from  their  own  internal  divine  testimony,- and  then  ac- 
cept them  as  canonical  because  our  souls  rest  upon  them 
as  the  veritable  divine  word.    "  For  he  that  believes  that 


*  Ed,  Calamy,  Inspiration  of  the  Holy  Writings,  Lond.,  1710,  p.  4a. 


112  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

God  saith,  without  evidence  that  God  saith  it ;  doth  not 
believe  God,  while  he  believes  the  thing  that  is  from 
God,  et  eadem  ratione,  si  conttguissei  Alcorano  Turcica  cre- 
didisset."  * 

The  same  critical  principle  was  applied  by  the  re- 
formers to  the  text  of  Scripture.  They  rejected 
the  inspiration  of  the  ancient  versions,  the  Greek  and 
the  Vulgate,  and  against  the  Greek  and  Roman 
churches  resorted  to  the  original  text.  They  bat- 
tled against  the  Vulgate  version,  in  behalf  of  versions 
for  the  people,  and  for  a  simple  grammatical  exegesis 
against  traditional  authority  and  the  manifold  sense. 
They  laid  down  the  hermeneutical  rule  that  the  Spirit 
of  God,  speaking  in  His  Word,  alone  could  decide  the 
meaning  of  the  text ;  and  that  difficult  passages  must  be 
interpreted  by  plain  ones.  In  the  various  departments 
of  exegesis  they  went  diligently  to  work.  Hebrew  and 
Greek  grammars,  lexicons,  texts,  versions,  and  commen- 
taries poured  from  the  press.  If  the  reformers  were 
great  dogmatic  theologians,  they  were  greater  biblical 
scholars,  and  their  theology  was  fresh,  warm,  and  vigor- 
ous, because  derived  from  a  critical  study  of  Scripture. 
The  greatest  dogmatic  writer  of  the  Reformation,  John 
Calvin,  was  also  its  greatest  exegete.f 

So  long  as  the  controversy  with  Rome  was  active  and 
energetic,  and  ere  the  counter-reformation  set  in,  the 
Protestant  critical  principle  maintained  itself;  but  as 
the  internal  conflicts  of  Protestant  churches  began  to 
absorb  more  and  more  attention,  and  the  polemic  with 


*  Whichcote,  Eight  letters  of  Dr.  A.  Tiickney  and  Benj.  Whic/tcote,  1753, 
p.  III. 

t  Tholuck  ( Vermisclile  Schriften,  II.,  341)  correctly  describes  him  as  distin- 
guished alike  for  dogmatic  impartiality,  exegetical  tact,  maiiy-sided  scholarship, 
and  deep  Christian  spirit. 


THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE.  113 

Rome  became  less  and  less  vigorous,  the  polemic  against 
brethren  more  and  more  violent,  the  Reformed  system 
of  faith  was  built  up  by  a  series  of  scholastics  over 
against  Lutheranism,  and  Calvinistic  orthodoxy  over 
ag-ainst  Arminianism.  The  elaboration  of  the  Protest- 
ant  Reformed  system  by  a  priori  deduction  carried  with 
it  the  pushing  of  the  peculiar  principles  of  Protestantism 
more  and  more  into  the  background.  The  authority  of 
the  Reformed  faith  and  tradition  assumed  the  place  of  a 
Roman  faith  and  tradition,  and  the  biblical  scholarship  of 
Protestant  churches,  cut  off  from  the  hne  of  Roman  tra- 
dition, worked  its  way  along  the  line  of  Jewish  rabbini- 
cal tradition,  and  began  to  establish  a  Protestant  ortho- 
doxy— in  the  Swiss  schools  under  the  influence  of  Bux- 
torf,  Heidegger  and  Francis  Turretine;  and  in  the  Dutch 
schools  under  the  influence  of  Voetius. 

Lutheran  theology  had  the  same  essential  develop- 
ment through  internal  struggles.  The  school  of  Calix- 
tus  at  Helmstadt  had  struggled  with  the  scholastic 
spirit,  until  the  latter  had  sharpened  itself  into  the 
most  radical  antagonism  to  the  Reformed  church  and 
the  Melancthon  type  of  Lutheran  theology.  Carlov 
stated  the  doctrine  of  verbal  inspiration  in  the  same  es- 
sential terms  as  the  Swiss  scholastics,  and  was  followed 
therein  by  the  Lutheran  scholastics  generally. 

"  It  treated  Holy  Scripture  as  the  revelation  itself,  instead  of  as 
the  memorial  of  the  originally  revealed,  ideal,  actual  truth  ;  the  con- 
sequence being  that  Holy  Scripture  was  transformed  into  God's  ex- 
clusive work,  the  human  element  was  explained  away,  and  the  orig- 
inal living  power  thrust  away  behind  the  writing  contained  in  let- 
ters. Faith  ever  draws  its  strength  and  decisive  certainty  from  the 
original  eternally  living  power  to  which  Scripture  is  designed  to  lead. 
But  when  Scripture  was  regarded  as  the  goal,  and  attestation  was 
sought  elsewhere  than  in  the  experience  of  faith  through  the  pres- 
ence of  truth  in  the  Spirit,  then  the  Reformation  standpoint  was 


114  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

abandoned,  its  so-called  material  principle  violated,  and  it  became 
easy  for  Rationalism  to  expose  the  contradictions  in  which  the  in- 
quirers had  thus  involved  themselves."  * 

II.    THE  PURITAN  CANON. 

The  Thirty-nine  Articles  take  an  intermediate  position 
between  the  reformers  and  the  Roman  Catholic  church 
in  their  doctrine  of  the  canon  : 

"  In  the  name  of  holy  Scripture,  we  do  understand  those  Canon- 
ical books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  of  whose  authority  was 
never  any  doubt  in  the  Church."  The  24  books  of  the  Hieronymian 
canon  of  the  Old  Testament  are  then  mentioned.  It  then  continues : 
"  And  the  other  books  (as  Hierome  saith)  the  Church  doth  read  for 
example  of  life  and  instruction  of  manners  :  but  yet  doth  it  not  ap- 
ply them  to  establish  any  doctrine."  It  then  names  14  apocryphal 
books,  and  concludes :  "  All  the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  as 
they  are  commonly  received,  we  do  receive  and  account  them  for 
Canonical."     (Art.  VI.). 

The  Thirty-nine  Articles  thus  base  themselves  on  the 
Hieronymian  tradition  as  the  Roman  Catholic  church 
did  on  the  stronger  Augustinian  tradition. 

The  Scotch  Confession  of  1560,  however,  maintains 
the  position  of  the  reformers  : 

"  As  we  beleeve  and  confesse  the  Scriptures  of  God  sufficient  to 
instruct  and  make  the  man  of  God  perfite,  so  do  we  affirme  and 
avow  the  authoritie  of  the  same  to  be  of  God,  and  nether  to  depend 
on  men  nor  angelis.  We  affirme,  therefore,  that  sik  as  allege  the 
Scripture  to  have  na  uther  authoritie  bot  that  quhilk  it  hes  re- 
ceived from  the  Kirk,  to  be  blasphemous  against  God,  and  injurious 
to  the  trew  Kirk,  quhilk  alwaies  heares  and  obeyis  the  voice  of  her 
awin  spouse  and  Pastor ;  bot  takis  not  upon  her  to  be  maistres 
over  the  samin."     (Art.  XIX.). 

Thos.  Cartwright,  the  chief  of  the  English  Puritans, 
takes  the  same  view : 


*  Domer,  System  of  Christian  Doctrine,  Vol  II.,  p.  186. 


THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE.  115 

"  Q.  How  may  these  bookes  be  discerned  to  bee  the  word  of  God  ? 

"  A.  By  these  considerations  following' : 

"  First,  they  are  perfectly  holy  in  themselves,  and  by  themselves  : 
whereas  all  other  writings  are  prophane,  further  then  they  draw 
holinesse  from  these  ;  which  yet  is  never  such,  but  that  their  holi- 
nesse  is  imperfect  and  defective. 

"  Secondly,  they  are  perfectly  profitable  in  themselves,  to  instruct 
to  salvation,  and  all  other  are  utterly  unprofitable  thereunto,  any 
further  then  they  draw  from  them. 

"  Thirdly,  there  is  a  perfect  concord  and  harmonie  in  all  these 
Bookes,  notwithstanding  the  diversity  of  persons  by  whom,  places 
where,  and  time  when,  and  matters  whereof,  they  have  been  written. 

"  Fourthly,  there  is  an  admirable  force  in  them,  to  incline  men's 
hearts  from  vice  to  vertue. 

"  Fifthly,  in  great  plainenesse  and  easinesse  of  stile,  there  shineth 
a  great  Majesty  and  authority. 

"  Sixthly,  there  is  such  a  gracious  simplicity  in  the  writers  of  these 
Bookes,  that  they  neither  spare  their  friends,  nor  themselves,  but 
most  freely,  and  impartially,  set  downe  their  owne  faults  and  infirmi- 
ties as  well  as  others. 

"  Lastly,  God's  owne  Spirit  working  in  the  harts  of  his  children 
doth  assure  them,  that  these  Scriptures  are  the  word  of  God."  * 

The  Westminster  Confession  gives  expression  to  the 
mature  Puritan  faith  respecting  the  Scriptures  : 

§  2.  "  Under  the  name  of  Holy  Scripture,  or  the  word  of  God 
written,  are  now  contained  all  the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment, which  are  these "  (mentioning  the  66  books  commonly  re- 
ceived). "All  which  are  given  by  inspiration  of  God  to  be  the  rule 
of  faith  and  life." 

§  3.  "  The  books  commonly  called  Apocrypha,  not  being  of  divine 
inspiration,  are  no  part  of  the  canon  of  the  Scripture  ;  and  therefore 
are«of  no  authority  in  the  Church  of  God,  nor  to  be  any  otherwise 
approved,  or  made  use  of,  than  other  human  writings." 

§  4.  "  The  Authority  of  the  Holy  Scripture,  for  which  it  ought  to 
be  believed  and  obeyed,  dependeth  not  upon  the  testimony  of  any 
man  or  church,  but  wholly  upon  God,  (who  is  truth  itself,)  the  au- 


*  Thos.  Cartwright,  Treatise  of  the  Christian  Religion.    London,  1616. 


116  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

thor  thereof;  and  therefore  it  is  to  be  received,  because  it  is  the 
word  of  God." 

§  5.  "  We  may  be  moved  and  induced  by  the  testimony  of  the 
church  to  an  high  and  reverent  esteem  for  the  Holy  Scripture  ;  and 
the  heavenliness  of  the  matter,  the  efficacy  of  the  doctrine,  the  maj- 
esty of  the  style,  the  consent  of  all  the  parts,  the  scope  of  the  whole, 
(which  is  to  g^ve  all  glory  to  God,)  the  full  discovery  it  makes  of  the 
only  way  of  man's  salvation,  the  many  other  incomparable  excel- 
lencies, and  the  entire  perfection  thereof,  are  arguments  whereby  it 
doth  abundantly  evidence  itself  to  be  the  word  of  God  ;  yet,  not- 
withstanding, our  full  persuasion  and  assurance  of  the  infallible 
truth,  and  divine  authority  thereof,  is  from  the  inward  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  bearing  witness  by  and  with  the  word  in  our  hearts." 
(I..  §  2-5). 

The  Westminster  Confession  distinguishes  in  its  state- 
ments (i)  the  external  evidence,  the  testimony  of  the 
church ;  (2)  the  internal  evidence  of  the  Scriptures 
themselves;  {'^)  the  fides  divina.  Here  is  an  ascending 
series  of  evidences  for  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures. 
The  fides  humana  belongs  strictly  only  to  the  first  class 
of  evidences.  This  testimony  of  the  church  is  placed 
first  in  the  Confession  because  it  is  weakest.  The  sec- 
ond class  not  only  gives  fides  humana,  but  also  divina, 
owing  to  the  complex  character  of  the  Scriptures  them- 
selves ;  but  the  third  class  as  the  highest  gives  purely 
fides  divina.  The  Confession  carefully  discriminates  the 
weight  of  these  evidences.  The  authority  of  the  church 
only  induces  "  an  high  and  reverent  esteem  for  the 
Holy  Scripture."  The  internal  evidence  of  the  "  excel- 
lencies and  entire  perfection  thereof  are  arguments 
whereby  it  doth  abundantly  evidence  itself  to  be  the 
word  of  God  ";  but  our  "  full  persuasion  and  assurance 
of  the  infallible  truth  and  divine  authority  thereof " 
come  only  from  the  highest  evidence,  "  the  inward  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  bearing  witness  by  and  with  the  word 


THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE.  ^^ 

in  our  hearts."  In  accordance  with  this,  "  The  authority 
of  the  Holy  Scripture  dependeth  wholly  upon  God " 
(§4).  On  this  principle,  then,  the  canon  is  determined. 
The  books  of  the  canon  are  named  (§  2),  and  then  it  is 
said,  "All  which  are  given  by  inspiration  of  God  to  be 
the  rule  of  faith  and  life."  The  apocryphal  books  are 
no  part  of  the  canon  of  Scripture  because  they  are  not 
of  divine  inspiration  (§  3).  It  is,  therefore,  the  authority 
of  God  himself,  speaking  through  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  and 
with  the  word  to  the  heart,  that  determines  that  the 
writings  are  infallible  as  the  inspired  Word  of  God,  and 
it  is  their  inspiration  that  determines  their  canonicity. 

Thus  the'  Westminster  divines  maintained  the  Refor- 
mation point  of  view.  They  were  not  as  a  body  scho- 
lastics, though  there  were  scholastics  among  them  ;  but 
were  preachers,  catechists,  and  expositors  of  the  Script- 
ures, with  a  true  evangelical  spirit.  They  were  called 
from  the  active  work  of  the  ministry,  and  from  stubborn 
resistance  to  dogmatic  authority,  to  the  active  work  of 
reforming  the  church  of  England  into  closer  conformity 
with  the  Reformed  churches  of  the  continent.  Among 
the  doctrines  to  be  reformed  was  the  doctrine  respecting 
the  Scriptures.  There  was  a  difference  between  the 
Puritans  and  Prelatists  on  this  subject,  as  we  have  seen, 
in  placing  the  XXXIX  Articles  alongside  of  the  Scottish 
Confession  and  the  statement  of  Thos.  Cartwright.  This 
difference  was  still  further  developed.  The  Prelatical 
view  is  stated  by  Bishop  Cosin  :* 

"  For  though  there  be  many  Internal  Testimonies  belonging  to 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  whereby  we  may  be  sufficiently  assured,  that 
they  are  the  true  and  lively  oracles  of  God,  ....  yet  for  the  par- 
ticular and  just  number  of  such  books,  whether  they  be  more  or  less. 


*  Scltolastic  History  of  the  Canon.     London,  1657,  p.  4,  seq. 


lig  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

then  either  some  private  persons,  or  some  one  partictdar  church  o! 
late,  have  been  pleased  to  make  them,  we  have  no  better  nor  other 
external  rule  or  testimony  herein  to  guide  us,  then  the  constant 
voice  of  tlie  catholic  and  universal  church,  as  it  hath  been  delivered 
to  us  upon  record  from  one  generation  to  another." 

The  Puritans  in  the  Westminster  Assembly  in  revis- 
ing Article  VI.  of  the  XXXlX  Articles,  erased  the  state- 
ments upon  which  the  Prelatists  built :  "  Of  whose  au- 
thority was  never  any  doubt  in  the  church  ";  "  And  the 
other  books  (as  Hierome  saith)  the  church  doth  read  for 
example  of  life  and  instruction  of  manners  ;  but  yet 
doth  it  not  apply  them  to  establish  any  doctrine."  And 
they  changed  the  statement :  "  All  the  books  of  the 
New  Testament,  as  they  are  commonly  received,  we  do 
receive  and  account  them  for  canonical  ";  so  as  to  ex- 
press the  Puritan  doctrine :  "  All  which  books,  as  they 
are  commonly  received,  we  do  receive  and  acknowledge 
them  to  be  given  by  the  inspiration  of  God ;  and  in 
that  regard,  to  be  of  the  most  certain  credit,  and  high- 
est authority." 

Chas.  Herle,  the  Prolocutor,  admirably  states  the 
Protestant  position  over  against  the  Romish : 

"  They  (the  Papists)  being  asked,  why  they  believe  the  Scripture 
to  be  the  Word  of  God?  Answer,  because  the  Church  says  'tis  so  ; 
and  being  asked  againe,  why  they  beleeve  the  Church  ?  They  an- 
swer, because  the  Scripture  saies  it  shall  be  guided  into  truth  ;  and 
being  asked  againe,  why  they  beleeve  that  very  Scripture  that  says 
so  ?  They  answer,  because  the  Church  says  '\\%  Scripture,  and  so' 
(with  those  in  the  Psalm  xii.  8),  they  walk  in  a  circle  or  on  every 
side.  They  charge  the  like  on  us  (but  wrongfully)  that  we  beleeve 
the  Word,  because  it  sayes  it  self  that  it  is  so  ;  but  we  do  not  so  re- 
solve our  Faith  ;  we  believe  unto  salvation,  not  the  Word  barely, 
because  it  witnesses  to  itself,  but  because  the  Spirit  speaking  in  it 
to  our  consciences  witnesses  to  them  that  it  is  the  Word  indeed  ;  we 
resolve  not  our  Faith  barely  either  into  the  Word,  or  Spirit  as  its 


THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE.  119 

single  ultimate  principle,  but  into  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit  speak- 
ing to  our  consciences  in  the  Word."  * 

It  has  been  objected  by  a  recent  writer: 

"  It  does  not  tend  in  the  slightest  degree  to  reconcile  us  to  these 
opinions  to  say  that  the  reformers  entertained  them.  It  would  not 
be  strange  if  in  their  opposition  to  the  claims  of  the  church  of  Rome, 
they  went  to  the  opposite  extreme  and  were  in  danger  of  falling  into 
the  errors  of  the  mystics."  t 

It  is  true  that  in  this  matter  the  reformers  and  Pu- 
ritans were  in  radical  opposition  to  Rome.  This  was 
the  so-called  formal  principle,  one  of  the  essential  prin- 
ciples of  Protestantism.  If  they  had  not  taken  this  po- 
sition they  would  have  been  powerless  against  the  Roman 
claim  of  tradition. 

As  Reuss  well  says : 

"  Nothing  was  more  foreign  to  the  spirit  of  Luther,  of  Calvin,  and 
their  illustrious  fellow-laborers,  nothing  was  more  radically  contrary 
to  their  principles,  than  to  base  the  authority  of  the  sacred  scriptures 
upon  that  of  the  Church  and  its  tradition,  to  go  in  effect,  to  mount 
guard  over  the  fathers,  and  range  their  catalogfues  in  line,  cause  their 
obscurities  to  disappear  by  forced  interpretations  and  their  contra- 
dictions by  doing  violence  to  them,  as  is  the  custom  of  our  day.  They 
very  well  knew  that  this  would  have  been  the  highest  inconsistency, 
indeed  the  ruin  of  their  system,  to  attribute  to  the  church  the  right 
of  making  the  Bible  after  they  had  contested  that  of  making  the  doc- 
trine ;  for  that  which  can  do  the  greater  can  do  the  less."  % 

It  is  true  that  the  mystic  element  was  strong  among 
the  reformers  and  the  Puritans.  This  is  indeed  the  chief 
feature  which  distinguishes  them  from  the  Swiss,  Dutch, 
and  Lutheran   scholastics  and  their  modern  followers. 


*  Detur  Sapienti,  pp.  152-3.     London,  1655. 

t  Francis  L.  Patton,  article,  Pentaleuchal  Criticism,  Presbyterian  Review, 
IV.,  p.  346. 

X  Reuss,  Histoire  du  Canon,  p.  313. 


120  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

But  their  mystic  was  not  mysticism.  There  never  have 
been  times  in  the  history  of  the  church  when  mys- 
ticism prevailed  in  such  a  variety  of  forms  and  persist- 
ence of  energy  as  in  the  times  of  the  Reformation  and 
of  the  Westminster  divines.  They  had  to  guard  their 
doctrines  at  every  point  against  mysticism.  It  is 
strange  reading  of  history  to  represent  either  the  re- 
formers or  the  Puritans  as  going  too  far  in  the  direction 
of  mysticism. 

The  statements  of  the  Westminster  divines  were  made 
in  the  face  of  the  strongest  force  of  mysticism  that  has 
ever  manifested  itself.  Thus,  in  1647,  the  London  min- 
isters (many  of  whom  were  members  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly)  issued  their  testimony  against  this  false  mys- 
ticism and  the  heresies  of  their  time.     They  mention  as 

"  Errors  against  the  Divine  Authority  of  the  Holy  Scripture,  That 
the  Scripture,  whether  true  Manuscript  or  no,  whether  Hebrew, 
Greek,  or  English,  it  is  but  human  ;  so  not  able  to  discover  a  divine 
God.  Then  where  is  your  command  to  make  that  your  rule  or  disci- 
pline, that  cannot  reveal  you  God,  nor  give  you  power  to  walk  with 
God  }  That,  it  is  no  foundation  of  Christian  Religion,  to  believe 
that  the  English  Scriptures,  or  that  book,  or  rather  volume  of  books 
called  the  Bible,  translated  out  of  the  originall  Hebrew  and  Greek 
copies,  into  the  English  tongue  are  the  Word  of  Cod.  That,  ques- 
tionless no  writing  whatsoever,  whether  translations  or  originalis, 
are  the  foundation  of  Christian  Religion."* 

Wm.  Lyford,  an  esteemed  Presbyterian  divine,  invited 
to  sit  in  the  Westminster  Assembly,  but  preferring  his 
pastoral  work,  wrote  a  commentary  on  this  testimony  of 
the  London  ministers.f 


*A  Testimony  to  the  TrutJt  of  Jesus  Christ  and  to  our  solevm  League  and 
Covenant.  Subscribed  by  the  ministers  of  Christ  within  the  Province  of  Lon- 
don, Dec  14,  1647.     London,  1648.  ' 

+  The  Plain  man's  sense  exercised  to  discern  good  and  evil,  or  A  Discovery 


THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE.  121 

In  his  chapter  on  ihe  Divine  Authority  of  Scripture, 
he  says : 

"  I  shall  not  trouble  you  with  the  Popish  controversies  concerning 
the  Scripture,  but  apply  myself  to  the  errors  of  the  present  age." 
He  then  quotes  the  language  from  the  Testimony  given  above.  He 
then  goes  on  to  give  the  properties  of  Scripture,  and  after  brief  men- 
tion of  the  error  of  making  "  the  Church  the  judge  over  Scriptures  " 
(p.  7),  he  says :  "  But  the  error  I  am  now  to  deale  with,  is  that  of 
the  blasphemous  Antt-Scripturist,  under  which  name  I  comprehend 
all  such  as  either  deny  them  to  be  divinely  inspired  and  given  of  God, 
or  else  allowing  their  divine  authority,  yet  refuse  to  submit  to  Script- 
ure as  the  supreme  and  all-sufficient  Judge,  pretending  to  other  divine 
revelations,  besides  and  beyond  the  written  word,  unto  which  upon 
all  occasions  they  appeal,  as  if  the  Scriptures  were  not  able  to  ac- 
quaint the  soul  with  the  highest  discoveries  of  God's  truth  and  mind. 
If  they  be  urged  with  any  proof  out  of  the  Old  Testament,  they  re- 
ject it,  as  if  the  Old  Testament  were  antiquated,  and  out  of  date : 
if  they  be  pressed  with  a  place  in  the  New  Testament,  then  they 
say,  that  is  not  the  meaning,  which  we  produce  because  (say  they) 
you  have  not  the  spirit,  the  spirit  teacheth  us  otherwise.  And  thus 
under  pretence  of  Inspirations  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  improvements 
beyond  and  above  all  Scripture,  they  strike  at  the  root,  and  blow  up 
the  very  foundations  of  all  faith  and  religion,  of  all  our  hopes  and 
comfdrts  ;  these  are  the  devill's  engineers — ."(p.  17). 

Our  author  knows  how  to  steer  between  the  Scylla  of 
Romanism  and  the  Charybdis  of  mysticism.  The  re- 
formers and  Puritans  knew  their  work  better  than  some 
of  our  modem  theologians. 

"  It  is  one  thing  to  say  the  Spirit  teacheth  us  by  Scripture,  and 
another  thing  to  pretend  the  Spirit's  teaching  besides  or  beyond,  or 
contrary  to  the  Scripture ;  the  one  is  a  divine  truth,  the  other  is  vile 
montanisme"  (p.  20). 

After  controverting  the  "  foure  fold  error:  (i)  of  them 


of  the  Errors,  Heresies,  and  Blasphemies  of  these  Times,  and  the  Toleration 
of  them,  as  they  are  collected  and  testified  against  by  the  ministers  of  London, 
in  their  Testimony  to  the  Truth  of  Jesus  Christ.     London,  1655. 


122  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

that  would  place  this  authority  (of  scripture)  in  the 
Church ;  (2)  of  them  who  appeale  from  scripture  to  the 
spirit ;  (3)  of  them  that  make  reason  the  supreme  Judge  ; 
(4)  of  them  that  expound  scripture  according  to  Provi- 
dences," he  goes  on  to  expound  the  position  of  our 
Protestant  symbols : 

"  The  authority  and  truth  of  God  speaking  in  the  Scripture,  is  that 
upon  which  our  faith  is  built,  and  doth  finally  stay  itselfe :  The  min- 
istry of  the  Church,  the  illumination  of  the  Spirit,  the  light  use  of 
reason  are  the  choicest  helps,  by  which  we  believe,,  by  which  we  see 
the  law  and  will  of  God  ;  but  they  are  not  the  law  itself;  the  divine 
truth  and  authority  of  God's  word,  is  that  which  doth  secure  our 

consciences If  you  ask  what  it  is  that  I  believe?  I  answer,  I 

believe  the  blessed  doctrines  of  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ ;  if  you 
ask,  why  I  believe  all  this,  and  why  I  will  venture  my  soul  to  all  eter- 
nity on  that  doctrine  ?  I  answer,  because  it  is  the  revealed  will  of 
God  concerning  us.  If  you  ask  further.  How  I  know  that  God  hath 
revealed  them  ?  I  answer,  by  a  two-fold  certainty  ;  one  of  faith,  the 
other  of  experience ;  (i)  I  do  infallibly  by  faith  believe  the  Revela- 
tion, not  upon  the  credit  of  any  other  Revelation,  but  for  itselfe,  the 
Lord  giving  testimony  thereunto,  not  only  by  the  constant  Testimony 
of  the  Church,  which  cannot  universally  deceive,  nor  only  by  miracles 
from  heaven,  bearing  witness  to  the  Apostle's  doctrine,  but  chiefly 
by  its  own  proper  divine  light,  which  shines  therein.  The  truth 
contained  in  Scripture  is  a  light,  and  is  discerned  by  the  sons  of 
light :  It  doth  by  its  own  light,  persuade  us,  and  in  all  cases,  doubts, 
and  questions,  it  doth  clearly  testifie  with  us  or  against  us  ;  which 
light  is  of  that  nature,  that  it  g^veth  Testimony  to  itself,  and  receiv- 
eth  authority  from  no  other,  as  the  Sun  is  not  seene  by  any  light  but 

his  own,  and  we  disceme  sweet  from  soure  by  its  own  taste 

(2)  Whereunto  add,  that  other  certainty  of  experience,  which  is  a 
certainty  in  respect  of  the  Affections  and  of  the  spiritual  man.  This 
is  the  Spirit's  seal  set  to  God's  truth  (namely),  the  light  of  the  word  ; 
when  it  is  thus  shewnen  unto  us,  it  doth  work  such  strange  and  su- 
pernatural effects  upon  the  soul ;  .  .  ,  .It  persuades  us  of  the  truth 
and  goodness  of  the  will  of  God  ;  and  of  the  things  revealed  ;  and 
all  this  by  way  of  spiritual  taste  and  feeling,  so  that  the  things  ap- 
prehended by  us  in  divine  knowledge,  are  more  certainly  discerned 


\  THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE.  123 

in  the  certai'nty  of  experience,  than  anything  is  discerned  in  the  light 
of  naturall  urt\derstanding  "  (p.  39). 

"They  that  are  thus  taught,  doe  know  assuredly  that  they  have 
heard  God  himselfe :  In  the  former  way,  the  light  of  Divine  Rea- 
son causeth  approbation  of  the  things  they  beheve.  In  the  later, 
the  Purity  and  power  of  Divine  Knowledge,  causeth  a  taste  and  feel- 
ing of  the  things  they  heare  :  And  they  that  are  thus  established  in 
the  Faith,  doe  so  plainly  see  God  present  with  them  in  his  Word, 
that  if  all  the  world  should  be  turned  into  Miracles,  it  could  not  re- 
move them  from  the  certainty  of  their  perswasion ;  you  cannot  un- 
perswade  a  Christian  of  the  tmth  of  his  Religion,  you  cannot  make 
him  thinke  meanly  of  Christ,  nor  the  Doctrine  of  Redemption,  nor 
of  duties  of  Sanctification,  his  heart  is  fixed  trusting  in  the  Lord. 
So  then  we  conclude,  that  the  true  reason  of  our  Faith,  and  ground, 
on  which  it  finally  stayeth  itself,  is  the  Authority  of  God  himself, 
whom  we  doe  most  certainly  Jiscerne,  and  feele  to  speake  in  the 
word  of  faith,  which  is  preached  unto  us  "  (p.  39.) 

This  is  the  true  dactrine  of  the  Reformation  and  of 
the  Westminster  divines,  in  which  they  know  no  antago- 
nism between  the  human  reason,  the  religious  feeling, 
and  the  Divine  Spirit  in  the  Word  of  God.  It  is  a  mer- 
ciful Providence  that  they  were  guided  to  this  position, 
for,  if  they  had  gone  with  the  Swiss  scholastics  in  basing 
themselves  on  rabbinical  tradition  as  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, they  would  have  committed  the  churches  of  the 
Reformation  to  errors  that  have  long  since  been  ex- 
ploded by  scholars.  This  is  the  true  Puritan  mystic  in 
conflict  with  mysticism  and  its  best  antidote.  It  is  the 
mystic  element  that  needs  above  all  things  to  be  revived 
in  the  British  and  American  churches.  It  brings  the 
people  face  to  face  with  the  Bible  and  with  the  Divine 
Spirit  working  in  and  with  it,  so  that  they  need  no  mediat- 
ing priesthood  of  theologians,  no  help  of  apologetics  or  of 
polemics  to  convince  them  of  the  authority  of  the  Bible 
and  enable  them  to  maintain  it  against  all  cavilling. 

It  is  also  objected  that  this  resting  upon  the  fides divina 


124  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  / 

for  the  proof  of  the  inspiration  and  canonicity  of  ihe  Script- 
ure implies  that  "  every  Christian  makes  his  own  Bible."f 
True,  but  this  right  of  private  judgment  is  tbt  Protestant 
position.  Are  we  prepared  to  abandon^  \i  r  Shall  it  be 
maintained  with  reference  to  other  do.ctrines  and  aban- 
doned with  reference  to  the  source  of  th^se  doctrines  ?  This 
would  be  a  fatal  inconsistency  to  Protestantism.  The 
right  of  private  judgment  must  applfy  to  the  authority,  in- 
spiration, and  canonicity  of  Scripture,  as  well  as  to  the  doc- 
trines of  atonement,  justification  by  faith,  and  original 
sin.  It  is  no  more  difficult  of] application  in  the  one 
case  than  the  others.  It  may  b,e  an  unfamiliar  practice 
to  those  who  rest  on  the  authority  of  the  church  for  the 
authority  of  Scripture.  But  !*•  is  no  more  unfamiliar  to 
them  than  the  right  of  private  judgment  itself  is  unfa- 
miliar to  those  who  rest  upon  the  authority  of  an  infal- 
lible church  for  all  doctrines.  The  right  of  private 
judgment  with  reference  to  the  authority  of  a  book  of 
Scripture  no  more  prevents  the  consensus  of  individuals 
in  a  confession  of  faith  on  this  subject  than  on  any 
other.  It  is  important  that  the  individual  Christian 
should  have  his  own  convictions  on  all  of  these  sub- 
jects. The  consensus  of  such  Christians  who  know 
what  they  believe  is  much  stronger  than  the  consensus 
of  those  who  rest  merely  upon  the  external  authority 
of  the  testimony  of  the  church.  We  accept  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Westminster  Confession  with  reference  to 
the  Bible,  because  it  coincides  with  our  convictions  and 
experience  with  reference  to  the  Bible.  We  would  not 
subscribe  to  it  otherwise.  Our  faith  in  divine  things 
rests  upon  divine  and  not  on  human  authority. 

It  is  still  further  objected  that,  "  If,  however,  canon- 


•  F.  L.  Patton  in  /.  c,  p.  350. 


THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE.  125 

icity  be,  as  we  believe  it  is,  a  purely  historical  question, 
it  is  only  in  a  very  limited  way  that  subjective  tests 
can  be  employed  in  determining  it."  *  If  canonicity 
be  a  purely  historical  question,  then  the  reformers  and 
the  Westminster  Confession  and  "the  other  reformed 
creeds  were  in  error  when  they  made  it  purely  a 
question  of  inspiration  and  of  the  internal  divine  au- 
thority of  the  Scriptures  themselves.  To  abandon  this 
position  is  to  accept  essentially  the  Roman  Catholic 
position.  The  difference  then  amounts  to  this :  At  what 
historic  point  shall  we  stand,  or  on  what  historic  names 
shall  we  base  our  faith  in  the  canon  ?  Shall  we  go  with 
Rome  and  base  the  canon  on  the  authority  of  the  living 
church  as  the  heir  of  Catholic  tradition,  or  shall  we  go 
with  the  XXXIX  Articles  and  rely  on  the  authority 
of  Jerome  and  the  Jewish  assembly  at  Jamnia,  or  shall 
we  accept  the  consensus  of  the  Ante-Nicene  church  and 
share  their  doubts  as  well  as  their  certainties  ?  Which- 
ever of  these  positions  we  may  take,  we  still  build  on 
uncertain  and  fallible  authority,  and  dishonor  the  suffi- 
ciency and  authority  of  the  Scriptures  themselves.  We 
violate  one  of  the  Reformation  principles  upon  which 
our  Protestantism  depends,  and  the  most  consistent 
course  would  be  to  follow  Cardinal  Newman  in  his  path- 
way to  Rome. 

III.   CRITICISM   OF  THE   CANON. 

It  is  all  the  more  necessary  to  apply  to  the  canon  the 
critical  test  established  by  the  reformers,  now  that  we  are 
much  better  informed  as  to  the  relation  of  the  Jews  to 
the  canon  than  they  were.  The  New  Testament  writers 
and  the  fathers  generally  depended  upon  the  Septuagint 


*  F.  L.  Patton  in  /.  f.,  p.  349. 


126  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

version  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  story  of  its  transla- 
tion by  means  of  seventy-two  accomplished  scholars 
chosen  from  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  with  the  co-oper- 
ation of  Ptolemaeus  Philadelphus,  king  of  Egypt,  and  the 
Jewish  high-priest  of  Jerusalem,  and  inspired  to  do  their 
work  by  the  Divine  Spirit, — which  prevailed  for  many 
centuries  in  the  Eastern  and  Western  ehurches, — has 
been  traced  to  its  simpler  form  in  Josephus*  and 
Philo,f  and  from  these  to  the  original  letter  of  Aris- 
teas,  and  that  has  been  proved  to  be  a  forgery  ^  and  its 
statements  wide  of  the  truth.  For  an  internal  examina- 
tion of  the  translation  itself  proves  it  to  have  been  made 
by  different  men  on  different  principles  and  at  different 
times. 

Frankel  is  followed  by  a  large  number  of  scholars  in 
the  opinion  that  it  was  a  sort  of  Greek  Targum  which 
grew  up  gradually  at  first  from  the  needs  of  the  syna- 
gogue worship,  and  then  from  the  desire  of  the  Hellen- 
istic Jews  to  collect  together  the  religious  literature  of 
their  nation,  as  the  Palestinian  and  Babylonian  Targums 
were  subsequently  made  for  the  Jews  speaking  Aramaic.§ 

Some  of  the  sacred  books — such  as  Daniel,  Esther,  and 
Jeremiah — have  additional  matter  not  found  in  the 
Hebrew  Massoretic  text.  The  apocryphal  writings  are 
mingled  with  those  taken  into  the  Hebrew  canon  with- 
out discrimination.     As  Deane  j  says : 

"  If  we  judge  from  the  MSS.  that  have  come  down  to  us,  it  would 
be  impossible  for  any  one,  looking  merely  to  the  Septuagint  version  and 


*  Anitg.  XII.  2.  t  ^ffa  Mosts,  II.,  §  5-7. 

X  The  ori^nal  text  of  the  letter  is  best  given  in  Ment.,  Arckiv  fur  IVissen- 
schaftliche  Erforsckung des  Alien  Testamenls,  I.,  p.  24a,  seq.     Halle,  187a 

§  Frankel,  Vorsludien  z.  d.  Seftuaginta,  Leipzig,  1841 ;  Scholtz,  Alexand. 
Uebersetz.  d.  Buck  lesaias,  1880,  p.  7,  seg. 

\  Book  0/  Wisdom,  Oxford,  1881,  p.  37,  seq. 


THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE.  127 

its  allied  works,  to  distinguish  any  of  the  books  in  the  collection  as  of 
less  authority  than  others.  There  is  nothing  whatever  to  mark  off 
the  canonical  writings  from  what  have  been  called  the  deuterocanon- 
ical.  They  are  all  presented  as  of  equal  standing  and  authority,  and, 
if  we  must  make  distinctions  between  them,  and  place  some  on  a 
higher  platform  than  others,  this  separation  must  be  made  on 
grounds  which  are  not  afforded  by  the  arrangement  of  the  various 
documents  themselves." 

The  scholastics  depend  upon  the  tradition  that 
the  Old  Testament  canon  was  determined  by  the  so- 
called  men  of  the  great  synagogue.  They  rely  for  this 
upon  Elias  Levita*  and  the  long  Jewish  tradition  that 
goes  back  to  a  slender  support  in  the  Misnaic  tract, 
Aboth  (I.  l-2).t  But  back  of  this  there  is  no  historical 
evidence  whatever.  The  silence  of  all  the  writings  from 
the  first  century  A.D.  backwards  is  absolute.  They  could 
not  have  omitted  to  mention  such  a  body  as  this  if  it 
ever  had  an  existence,  and  determined  the  canon  and 
everything  else  upon  which  the  Jewish  religion  depended.* 
The  Apocryphal  Literature,  in  its  wide  and  varied 
extent,  knows  of  no  such  body.  The  numerous  pseu- 
depigraphical  writers  are  also  silent.  Philo  and  Josephus 
know  of  nothing  of  the  kind.  The  New  Testament 
writers  do  not  recognize  it.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
apocalypse  of  Ezra,  from  the  first  century  A.D.,  repre- 
sents the  whole  canon  as  determined  by  Ezra,  who  com- 
mitted the  whole  to  writing  by  divine  inspiration.:}: 
How  could  it  do  so  in  the  face  of  the  great  synagogue? 
There  are  well-established  disputes  as  to  the  canon 
among  the  Jews  in  the  first  Christian  century  which 


*  Massoreth  Ha-Massoreth,  edited  by  Ginsberg,  1867,  p.  112,  seq. 
t  Strack,  Die  Sprucher  der  Vater ;  Ein  ethischer  Mischna-Traktat,  Karls- 
ruhe, 1882.    Taylor,  Sayings  0/ tJu  Jewish  Fat  hers,  Cambridge,  1877. 
X  XIV.  19,  seq. 


128  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

could  not  have  taken  place  if  a  venerable  body  like  the 
supposed  men  of  the  great  synagogue  had  determined 
everything.  This  tradition  must  go  with  the  letter  of 
Aristeas  out  of  the  field  of  history  into  the  realm  of 
shadowy  and  unsupported  legends. 

Another  evidence  for  the  fixture  of  the  Old  Testament 
canon  has  been  found  in  a  supposed  writing  of  Philo  of 
the  first  Christian  century.*  This  work  speaks  of  the  law, 
the  prophets,  hymns,  and  other  writings,  making  either 
three  or  four  classes,  but  without  specification  of  partic- 
ular books.  But  this  writing  has  recently  been  proved 
to  have  been  written  in  the  third  century  A.D.,  and  wrongly 
attributed  to  Philo.f  The  position  has  been  accepted 
by  scholars,  if  and  is  invincibly  established.  The  testi- 
mony of  Philo  is  therefore  reduced  to  the  books  that  he 
quotes,  as  of  divine  authority.  He  omits  to  mention  Nehe- 
miah,  Ruth,  Esther,  Chronicles,  Ezekiel,  Lamentations, 
Daniel,  Ecclesiastes,  and  the  Song  of  Songs.  §  -  He  uses 
Proverbs  and  Job.  This  we  would  expect  from  Philo's 
type  of  thought  and  the  subject-matter  of  his  writings. 
But  his  omission  of  Ecclesiastes  and  the  Song  of  Songs 
is  surprising.  These  writings  belong  to  the  same  class 
of  wisdom-literature  as  Job  and  Proverbs.  They  would 
have  given  him  the  very  best  field  for  his  peculiar 
method  of  allegory.  The  omission  in  this  case  weighs 
against  them.  Ezekiel  and  Daniel,  the  symbolical  proph- 
ets, we  would  expect  him  to  make  use  of.  Josephus| 
mentions  22  books  as  making  up  his  canon — 5  of  the  law, 
13  of  the  prophets,  and  4  of  poems  and  precepts,  but 


*  De  Vita  Contetnp.,  s.  III. 

t  Lucius,  Die  Therapeutcn  und  ihre  Stellung  in  der  Askese„  Strassburg,  1880. 

X  Strack,  art.  Kanon  in  Herzog,  II.  Aufl.,  vii.,  p.  425. 

§  Eichhom,  Einleitmtg,  3te,  Ausgabe,  1803,  I.,  p.  98. 

I  Contra  Apion,  I.,  8. 


THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE.  129 

does  not  define  which  they  are.  He  uses  all  of  the 
Talmudic  canon  except  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  Song  of 
Songs,  and  Job.^  The  silence  of  Josephus  as  to  these 
cannot  be  pressed,  because  they  did  not  clearly  come 
within  his  scope.  Various  efforts  have  been  made  to 
determine  his  books,  but  without  conclusive  results. 
The  lists  of  subsequent  writers  have  been  used.  Here, 
if  on  the  one  hand  the  lists  of  Origen  and  Jerome 
favor  the  Talmudic,  the  list  of  Junilius  Africanus 
favors  the  exclusion  of  Chronicles,  Ezra,  Job,  Song  of 
Songs,  and  Esther.f  Graetz  ^  seems  to  us  to  come 
nearer  the  mark  in  excluding  the  Song  of  Songs  and 
Ecclesiastes  from  the  list  of  Josephus.  He  falls,  then, 
by  his  22,  just  these  two  short  of  the  Talmudic  list 
of  24.  We  are  left  by  Josephus  in  uncertainty  as  to 
certain  Old  Testament  books.  Moreover,  the  state- 
ments of  Josephus  do  not  carry  with  them  our  confi- 
dence as  to  the  views  of  the  men  of  his  time  ;  for  we 
know  that  several  books  were  in  dispute  among  the 
Pharisees,  such  as  Ezekiel,  Song  of  Songs,  Ecclesiastes, 
and  Esther.  They  were  generally,  but  not  unanimously 
acknowledged.  The  Sadducees  are  said  by  some  of  the 
fathers  to  have  agreed  with  the  Samaritans  in  rejecting 
all  but  the  Pentateuch.  This  must  be  a  mistake.  But 
we  can  hardly  believe  that  they  accepted  Ezekiel  and 
Daniel  in  view  of  their  denial  of  angels  and  the  resurrec- 
tion. The  Essenes  and  the  Zelots  agreed  in  extending 
the  canon  to  esoteric  tvritings.  The  apocalypse  of  Ezra 
mentions  70  of  these  as  given  to  Ezra  to  interpret  the 
24,  and  so  of  even  greater  authority.      These  parties 


*  Eichhom  in  /.  r.,  I.,  p.  123. 

t  See  Prof.   Kihn,    Theodore   von   Mopsuestia  und  Julius  A/ricanus  ah 
Exfgeten,  Frei.,  1880,  p.  86. 
X  Gesch.  d.  Juden,  III.,  p.  501,  Leipsig;,  1863. 

n* 


130  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

differ  from  the  Pharisees  only  in  that  they  committed 
the  esoteric  wisdom  to  writing,  whereas  the  Pharisees 
handed  it  down  as  an  infallible  tradition,  and  prohibited 
the  committing  it  to  writing,  until  at  last  it  found  em- 
bodiment in  the  Misnayoth  and  the  Talmuds. 

The  eminent  Jewish  scholar,  Zunz,  is  correct  in  his 
statement :  "  Neither  Philo  nor  Josephus  impart  to  us 
an  authentic  list  of  the  sacred  writings."*  It  seems 
clear  that  the  Jewish  canon  was  not  definitely  settled 
until  the  assembly  at  Jamnia,  during  the  Jewish  war 
with  Titus  (about  70  A.D.),  and  the  decisions  were  car- 
ried through  by  a  majority  of  votes,  accompanied  with 
acts  of  violence  toward  the  dissenting  parties.f  We 
doubt  not  that  the  canon  of  the  Palestinian  Jews  re- 
ceived its  latest  addition  by  common  consent  not  later 
than  the  tirne  of  Judas  Maccabeus,:}:  and  no  books 
of  later  composition  were  added  afterward  ;  -yet  the 
schools  of  the  Pharisees  continued  the  debate  with 
reference  to  some  of  these  writings  until  the  assembly 
at  Jamnia,  and  the  Hellenistic  Jews  had  a  wider  and 
freer  conception  of  the  canon.§  We  cannot  rely  upon 
the  determination  of  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament 
by  the  authority  of  the  Pharisees,  who,  after  the  rejec- 
tion of  the  true  Messiah,  brought  on  the  ruin  of  their 
nation  in  the  Jewish  war.  We  cannot  yield  to  the 
authority  of  Rabbi  Akiba,  the  supporter  of  Bar  Khokba, 
the  false  messiah,  and  his  coadjutors,  any  more  on  this 


♦  Gottesdienst lichen  Vortrage  der  yuden,  1832,  p.  18. 

t  Graetz,  Gesck.  d.  yuden,  1863,  IIL,  p.  496,  seg. ;  Robertson  Smith,  Tht 
Old  Testament  in  tke  Jewish  Church,  N.  Y.,  18S1,  p.  172,  seq.,  and  412  seq. ; 
S.  Ives  Curtiss  in  Current  Discussions  in  Theology,  p.  63  ;  see  also  the  Misnaic 
tract,  Jadaim,  III.  5. 

X  Strack,  Herzog,  Real  Encyk.,  II.  Aufl.,  vii.,  p.  426 ;  Evrald,  Lehre  d.  Bibel 
von  Gott,  I.,  p.  363. 

§  Ewald  in  /.  c,  p.  364. 


THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE.  131 

subject  of  the  canon  than  we  can  accept  their  dicta  with 
regard  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath, 
or  the  faith  of  ancient  Israel. 

Nor  does  the  New  Testament  determine  the  canon  of 
the  Old.  Jesus  gives  His- authority  to  the  law,  the  proph- 
ets, and  the  psalms  (Luke  xxiv.  44),  which  alone  were 
used  in  the  synagogue  in  His  times ;  but  the  psalms  only 
of  the  Hagiographa  are  mentioned.  There  are  no  suffi- 
cient reasons  for  concluding  that  by  the  psalms  Jesus 
meant  all  the  other  books  besides  law  and  prophets. 

The  New  Testament  uses  for  the  Old  Testament  the 
following  general  terms :  (i)  the  term  scriptures  for  the 
whole  (Acts  xvii.  2  ;  xvii.  1 1 ;  xviii.  24;  xviii.  28) ;  ox  sacred 
writings  (2  Tim.  iii.  15) ;  (2)  law  (John  x.  34  referring  to 
the  Psalter ;  xii.  34  referring  to  several  passages  of  the 
prophets;  xv.  25  to  the  Psalter;  i  Cor.  xiv.  21  to  Isa- 
iah) ;  {-^prophets  (Luke  xxiv.  25  ;  Acts  xiii.  27)  ;  (4)  law 
and  prophets  (Matt.  v.  17;  Acts  xiii.  15),  Moses  and 
prophets  (Luke  xvi.  29,  31;  xxiv.  27;  Acts  xxvi.  22); 
law  of  Moses  and  the  prophets  (Acts  xxviii.  23)  ;  (5) 
law  of  Moses  and  prophets  and  psalms  (Luke  xxiv.  44). 
This  fluctuation  shows  that  in  the  minds  of  the  writers 
of  the  New  Testament  there  was  no  definite  division 
known  as  law,  prophets,  and  other  writings.*  Indeed 
the  New  Testament  carefully  abstains  from  using  the 
writings  disputed  among  the  Jews.  It  does  not  use  at 
all  Ecclesiastes,  Song  of  Songs,  Esther,  Ezra,  Nehemiah  ; 


*  The  statement  of  the  prologue  of  Ecclesiasticus  or  the  Wisdom  of  Sirach 
as  to  the  three  classes  :  "  Law,  Prophets,  and  other  books  of  our  fathers,"  does 
not  prove  that  the  last  was  a  technical  term  of  a  special  class.  How  could  Jose- 
phus  have  given  such  a  different  arrangement  of  the  writings  from  that  found 
anjrwhere  ebe,  if  that  had  been  the  case  ?  How  could  he  have  given  up  the 
technical  "  other  writings,"  and  used  hymns,  etc.  ?  The  term,  other  writings,  to 
Sirach  means  nothing  more  than  an  indefinite  number  which  did  not  belong  to 
the  classes  law  and  prophets. 


j^32  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

and  only  incidentally  Ezekiel  and  Chronicles  in  the  same 
way  as  apocryphal  books  and  the  pseudepigraphical  are 
used.  Was  this  silence  discretionary,  in  order  to  build 
only  on  books  recognized  by  all,  or  does  it  rule  from  the 
canon  those  books  so  ignored?.* 
Prof.  Charterisf  says: 

"  It  may  be  a  mere  coincidence,  but  it  is  at  least  noteworthy,  that 
the  only  books  of  the  Old  Testament  not  quoted  in  the  New  are  the 
tliree  books  of  the  writings  of  Solomon,  Esther  and  Ezra  and  Nehe- 
miah.  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  are  historical  books,  which  there  was 
probably  no  occasion  to  quote  :  but  the  other  four  unquoted  books — 
Esther,  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  and  Canticles — are  those  books  which 
were  not  accepted  by  all  at  the  time  of  our  Lord." 

We  shall  confine  ourselves  to  the  same  competent  au- 
thority for  a  summary  as  to  the  canon  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament : :}: 

"  We  see  that  there  were  other  books  accepted  by  most,  .but  not 
with  the  same  heartiness  by  all ;  and  the  notes  we  have  made  on  ear- 
lier lists  have  prepared  us  to  learn  what  these  books  were.  They 
are  James  and  Jude,  2d  Peter,  and  2d  and  3d  John.  Some  add  the 
Apocalypse  of  John.  All  these  books,  save  James,  were  wanting  in 
the  New  Testament  of  the  Syriac  Church,  which  being  the  earliest 
collection  of  Christian  Scriptures  for  the  East,  had  great  influence 
on  the  views  of  all  the  Oriental  Churches  for  which  Eusebius  was 
specially  qualified  to  speak.  When  we  turn  to  the  Western  or  Latin 
Church,  we  find  that  James  was  probably  omitted  in  the  old  Italic 
collection  current  in  Africa,  and  that  2d  Peter  certainly  was.  What 
Eusebius,  therefore,  tells  ue  with  his  usual  candid  trustfulness,  is 
what  we  should  have  known  from  those  other  sources  ;  and  it  may 
be  regarded  as  established  beyond  dispute." 

The  criticism  of  the  canon  has  thus  determined  a  gen- 


*  Eichhom  in  /.  f.,  L,  p.  104. 

t  The  New  Testament  Scriptures  :  Their  Claims,  History,  and  Authority. 
Croall  Lectures  for  1882.    New  York,  1882,  p.  88. 
J  In  /.  c,  p.  169. 


THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE.  133 

eral  consent  to  the  most  of  the  books  defined  as  canon- 
ical in  the  Reformed  creeds,  and  that  with  regard  to 
those  others  about  which  there  has  always  been  dispute, 
the  preponderance  of  testimony  is  in  their  favor.  The 
books  of  primary  and  secondary  authority  have  kept  the 
same  relative  position.  Those  doubted  among  the  Jews 
were  doubted  by  Christians.  Those  doubted  in  the  early 
church  were  doubted  by  the  reformers,  and  are  doubted 
by  some  critics  now.  In  giving  our 'testimony  to  the 
canonicity  of  all  the  books  specified  in  the  Reformed 
creeds,  we  do  it  on  the  principles  of  criticism  laid  down 
by  the  reformers  and  tested  by  the  fires  of  modern  in- 
vestigation. But  we  recognize  that  the  evidence  for 
some  is  less  than  for  others. 

The  conflicts  of  conformists  and  non-conformists,  and 
the  struggle  between  evangelical  faith  and  deism  in 
Great  Britain,  and  of  scholasticism  with  pietism  on  the 
continent,  caused  the  scholastics  to  antagonize  more 
and  more  the  human  element  in  the  Scriptures,  and  to 
assert  the  external  authority  of  traditional  opinions  and 
Protestant  orthodoxy,  over  the  reason,  the  conscience, 
and  the  religious  feeling;  while  the  apologists,  following 
the  deists  into  the  field  of  the  external  arguments  for 
and  against  the  religion  and  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  built 
up  a  series  of  external  evidences  which  are  strong  and 
powerful,  and  which  did,  in  fact,  overcome  the  deists 
intellectually,  or  rather  drive  them  into  atheism  and 
pantheism ;  but  at  the  expense  of  vital  piety  in  the 
Church — the  true  Puritan  inheritance  ;  for  the  stronger 
internal  evidence  was  neglected.  The  dogmatists  for- 
got the  caution  of  Calvin  :  "  Those  persons  betray  great 
folly  who  wish  it  to  be  demonstrated  to  infidels,  that  the 
Scripture  is  the  Word  of  God,  which  cannot  be  known 


134  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

without  faith  "  *  and  exposed  the  church  to  the  severe 
criticism  of  Dodwell : 

"  To  give  all  men  Liberty  to  judge  for  themselves  and  to  expect  at 
the  same  time  that  they  shall  be  of  the  preacher's  mind,  is  such  a 
scheme  for  unanimity  as  one  would  scarce  imagine  any  one  would 
be  weak  enough  to  devise  in  speculation,  and  much  less  that  any 
could  ever  prove  hardy  enough  to  avow  and  propose  to  practice,"  t 

and  led  some  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  an  "  ir- 
reconcilable repugnance  in  their  natures  betwixt  reason 
and  belief.":}: 

The  efforts  of  the  more  evangelical  type  of  thought 
which  passed  over  from  the  Puritans  into  the  Cambridge 
men,  and  the  Presbyterians  of  the  type  of  Baxter  and 
Calamy,  to  construct  an  evangelical  doctrine  of  the  rea- 
son and  the  religious  feeling  in  accordance  with  Protestant 
principles,  failed  for  the  time,  and  the  movement  died 
away,  or  passed  over  into  the  merely  liberal  and  compre- 
hensive" scheme,  or  assumed  an  attitude  of  indifference 
between  the  contending  parties.  The  Protestant  rule  of 
faith  was  sharpened  more  and  more,  especially  among 
the  Independents,  and  the  separating  Presbyterian 
churches  of  Scotland,  after  the  fashion  of  John  Owen, 
rather  than  of  the  Westminster  divines ;  whilst  the  apolo- 
gists pressed  more  and  more  the  dogmatic  method  of 
demonstration  over  against  criticism.§ 

The  Reformed  faith  and  evangelical  religion  were  about 
to  be  extinguished  when,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  the 
Puritan  vital  and  experimental  religion  was  revived  in 
Methodism  which  devoted  itself  to  Christian  life,  and  so 
proved  the  saving  element  in  modern  British  and  Amer- 
ican Christianity.      The  churches  of  the  continent  of 


♦  Institutes,  VIII.,  13,       f  Religion  not  founded  on  Argument,  p.  90,  seq. 
X  In  /.  f.,  p.  80.  §  Lechler,  Cesch.  d.  Deismus,  1841,  p.  411,  seg. 


THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTURE.  135 

Europe  were  allowed,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  to  meet 
the  full  force  of  rationalism  and  pay  the  penalty  of  the 
criminal  blunders  of  the  scholastics.  Schleiermacher 
was  raised  up  to  be  the  father  of  modern  evangelical 
German  theology.  He  began  to  recover  the  lost  ground 
and  to  build  the  structure  of  modern  theology  in  the 
true  mystic  spirit  on  the  religious  feeling  apprehending 
Jesus  Christ  as  Saviour.  A  series  of  intellectual  giants 
have  ci^rried  on  his  work,  such  as  Neander,  Tholuck, 
Rothe,  Miiller,  and  Dorner. 

It  is  not  safe  to  follow  these  foreign  divines  in  all  their 
methods  and  statements.  These  depend  upon  the  cent- 
ury of  conflict  which  lies  back  of  them  and  through  which 
we  have  not  passed.  British  and  American  theology 
has  its  own  peculiar  principles,  methods,  and  work  to 
perform.  It  is  rapidly  approaching  the  crisis  of  its  his- 
tory, the  same  essentially  that  German  theology  had  to 
nveet  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  tide 
of  thought  has  ebbed  and  flowed  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  continent  several  times  since  the  Reformation. 
The  tide  has  set  strongly  now  in  our  direction.  It  is 
perilous  to  follow  the  blind  guides  of  British  and  Amer- 
ican scholasticism,  and  fall  in  the  ditch  that  lies  in  their 
path  (Matt.  xv.  14).  It  is  wise  to  learn  from  the  expe- 
rience of  those  who  have  passed  through  the  conflict  and 
achieved  the  victory.  It  is  prudent  to  do  all  that  is  pos- 
sible to  prevent  the  ruin  to  American  Christianity  that 
is  sure  to  come  if  we  commit  the  old  blunders  over  again. 
It  is  our  conviction  that  the  revival  of  true  evangelical 
religion,  and  the  successful  progress  of  the  theology  of 
our  Reformed  churches,  in  the  working  out  of  the  princi- 
ples inherited  from  the  Reformation,  depend  upon  a 
speedy  reaction  from  the  scholastic  theology  of  the  Zu- 
rich Consensus  and  the  Puritanism  of  John  Owen,  and 


136  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

an  immediate  renewal  of  the  evangelical  life  and  unfet- 
tered thought  of  the  Reformation  and  the  Puritans  of 
the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

It  has  become  more  and  more  evident  since  Semler* 
reopened  the  question  of  the  canon  of  Scripture,  that 
the  only  safe  position  for  evangelical  men  is  to  build  on 
the  rock  of  the  Reformation  principle  of  the  Scriptures. 
This  principle  has  been  enriched  in  two  directions — first 
by  the  study  of  the  unity  and  harmony  of  the  Scsiptures 
as  an  organic  whole,  and  second  by  the  apprehension  of 
the  relation  of  the  faith  of  the  individual  to  the  consen- 
sus of  the  churches.  The  principles  on  which  the  canon 
of  Scripture  is  to  be  determined  are,  therefore,  these : 
(i)  The  testimony  of  the  church,  going  back  by  tradition 
and  written  documents  to  primitive  times,  presents  prob- 
able evidence  to  all  men  that  the  Scriptures,  recognized 
as  of  divine  authority  and  canonical  by  such  general  con- 
sent, are  indeed  what  they  are  claimed  to  be. 

(2)  The  Scriptures  themselves,  in  their  pure  and  holy 
character,  satisfying  the  conscience ;  their  beauty,  har- 
mony, and  majesty  satisfying  the  aesthetic  taste ;  their 
simplicity  and  fidelity  to  truth,  together  with  their  ex- 
alted conceptions  of  man,"  of  God,  and  of  history,  satis- 
fying the  reason  and  the  intellect ;  their  piety  and  devo- 
tion to  the  one  God,  and  their  revelation  of  redemption, 
satisfying  the  religious  feelings  and  deepest  needs  of 
mankind — all  conspire  to  more  and  more  convince  that 
they  are  indeed  sacred  and  divine  books. 

(3)  The  Spirit  of  God  bears  witness  by  and  with  the 
particular  writing,  or  part  of  writing,  in  the  heart  of  the 
believer,  removing  every  doubt  and  assuring  the  soul  of 
its  possession  of  the  truth  of  God,  the  rule  and  guide  of 
the  life. 


*  Abltandlung  von  freier  Untersuchung  des  Kanon.    4  Bde.,  1771-1775, 


THE  CANON  OF  SCRIPTUKE.  137 

(4)  The  Spirit  of  God  bears  witness  by  and  with  the 
several  writings  in  such  a  manner  as  to  assure  the  be- 
liever in  the  study  of  them  that  they  are  the  several 
parts  of  one  complete  divine  revelation,  each  writing 
having  its  own  appropriate  and  indispensable  place  and 
importance  in  the  organism  of  the  canon. 

(5)  The  Spirit  of  God  bears  witness  to  the  church  as 
an  organized  body  of  such  believers,  through  their  free 
consent  in  various  communities  and  countries  and  cent- 
uries, to  this  unity  and  variety  of  the  Scriptures  as  the 
one  complete  and  perfect  canon  of  the  divine  word  to 
the  church. 

And  thus  the  human  testimony,  the  external  evidence, 
attains  its  furthest  possible  limit  as  probable  evidence, 
bringing  the  inquirer  to  the  Scriptures  with  a  high 
and  reverent  esteem  of  them,  when  the  internal  evi- 
dence exerts  its  powerful  influence  upon  his  soul,  and 
at  length  the  divine  testimony  lays  hold  of  his  entire 
nature  and  convinces  and  assures  him  of  the  truth  of 
God  and  causes  him  to  share  in  the  consensus  of  the 
Christian  church. 

"  Thus  the  Canon  explains  and  judges  itself;  it  needs  no  foreign 
standard.  Just  so  the  Holy  Spirit  evokes  in  believers  a  judgment,  or 
criticism,  which  is  not  subjective,  but  in  which  freedom  and  fidelity- 
are  combined.  The  criticism  and  interpretation,  which  faith  exercises, 
see  its  object  not  from  without,  as  foreign,  or  as  traditional,  or  as  in 
bondage,  but  from  within,  and  abiding  in  its  native  element  becomes 
more  and  more  at  home  while  it  ascribes  to  every  product  of  apostolic 
men  its  place  and  proper  canonical  worth."  "  True  faith  sees  in  the 
letter  of  the  documents  of  Revelation  the  religious  content  brought  to 
an  immutable  objectivity  which  is  able  to  attest  itself  as  truth  by  the 
divine  Spirit,  which  can  at  once  warm  and  quicken  the  letter  in  order 
to  place  the  living  God-man  before  the  eyes  of  the  believer,"  * 


*  Dorner,  System  der  Christlicfien  Glaulenslehre,  Berlin,  1879,  ^-i  PP-  667, 
seq.  ;  System  0/  Christian  Doctrine,  Edin.,  1881,  II.,  p.  229,  seq. 


138  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

The  reason,  the  conscience,  and  the  religious  feeling, 
all  of  which  have  arisen  during  these  discussions  of  the 
last  century  into  a  light  and  vigor  unknown  and  unantic- 
ipated at  the  Reformation,  should  not  be  antagonized  the 
one  with  the  other,  or  with  the  Spirit  of  God,  but  will 
all  be  included  in  that  act  and  habit  of  faith  by  which 
we  apprehend  the  Word  of  God.  These  cannot  be  satis- 
fied with  the  external  authority  of  scholars  or  schools, 
of  Church  or  State,  of  tradition  or  human  testimony, 
however  extensive,  but  only  by  a  divine  authority  on 
which  they  can  rest  with  certainty.  Men  will  recognize 
the  canonical  writings  as  their  Bible,  only  in  so  far  as 
they  may  be  able  to  rise  through  them  as  external  media 
to  the  presence  of  their  divine  Master,  who  reigns  in  and 
by  the  Word,  which  is  holy  and  divine,  in  so  far  and  to 
that  extent  that  it  evidently  sets  Him  forth. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  TEXT   OF  THE   BIBLE. 

Biblical  Criticism  suffered  an  eclipse  in  the  17th 
century  among  the  reformed  scholastics  of  Switzerland 
and  Holland,  but  maintained  itself  in  France  and  among 
the  Puritans  of  Great  Britain,  where  the  conflict  with 
Rome  continued  as  a  life  and  death  struggle.  The  re- 
formed scholastics  and  the  Lutheran  scholastics  alike 
fell  back  upon  Jewish  rabbinical  tradition  and  formu- 
lated that  tradition  in  Protestant  forms  of  scholasticism 
and  with  hair-splitting  results.  The  reformers  had  given 
their  chief  attention  to  the  criticism  of  the  canon,  the 
establishment  of  the  sole  authority  of  the  Scripture,  and 
to  its  proper  interpretation,  but  they  had  not  overlooked 
the  criticism  of  the  text.  With  reference  to  the  Old 
Testament,  they  had  been  chiefly  influenced  by  two  Jew- 
ish scholars,  the  one  Elias  Levita,  who  lived  and  died  in 
the  Jewish  faith,  the  other  Jacob  ben  Chajim,  who  be- 
came a  Christian.  Chajim  edited  the  second  edition  of 
Bomberg's  Rabbinical  Bible  and  issued  an  elaborate  in- 
troduction to  it.  He  also  edited,  for  the  first  time,  the 
Massora.  It  was  a  common  opinion  among  the  Jews 
that  the  vowel  points  and  accents  of  the  Hebrew  Script- 
ures came  down  from  Ezra,  and  even  Moses  and  Adam. 
Levita  explodes  these  traditions  by  the  following  simple 
line  of  argument : 

(139) 


^40  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

"The  vowel  points  and  the  accents  did  not  exist  either  before 
Ezra  or  in  the  time  of  Ezra  or  after  Ezra  till  the  close  of  the  Talmud. 
And  I  shall  prove  this  with  clear  and  conclusive  evidence  (i)  In  all 
the  writings  of  our  Rabbins  of  blessed  memory,  whether  the  Talmud, 
or  the  Hagadah,  or  the  Midrash,  there  is  not  to  be  found  any  men- 
tion whatever  of,  or  any  allusion  to  the  vowel  points  or  accents." 
(2)  and  (3)  The  Talmud  in  its  use  of  the  Bible  discusses  how  the 
words  should  be  read  and  how  divided.  This  is  inconsistent  with 
an  accented  official  text.  (4)  "  Almost  all  the  names  of  both  the 
vowel  points  and  the  accents  are  not  Hebrew,  but  Aramean  and 
Babylonian."  * 

I.  TEXTUAL  CRITICISM  IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 

The  reformers  rejected  the  inspiration  of  the  Mas- 
soretic  traditional  pointing  and  only  accepted  the  un- 
pointed text.  Luther  does  not  hesitate  to  speak  of  the 
points  as  new  human  inventions  about  which  he  does 
not  trouble  himself,  and  says,  "  I  often  utter-  words 
which  strongly  oppose  these  points,"  and  "  they  are  most 
assuredly  not  to  be  preferred  to  the  simple,  correct,  and 
grammatical  sense."  f  He  goes  to  work  with  the  best 
text  he  can  find  to  give  the  Word  of  God  to  the  people. 
So  Calvin  X  acknowledged  that  they  were  the  result  of 
great  diligence  and  sound  tradition,  yet  to  be  used  with 
care  and  selection.  Zwingli  gave  great  value  to  the 
LXX  and  the  version  of  Jerome,  and  disputed  the 
Massoretic  signs.§  Though  searching  for  the  nearest 
grammatical  and  logical  sense,  they  were  not  anxious  as 
to  the  inspiration  of  the  grammar  or  the  logic  of  the  au- 
thors. Luther  does  not  hesitate  to  dispute  the  validity 
of  Paul's  argument  in  Galatians  iv.  22,  seq. ;  Calvin  does 


*  Levita,  Massoreth  Ha-Massoreth,  edited  by  Ginsberg,  p,  127,  seg.    London, 
1867. 
t  Com.  on  Gen.  xlvii.  31 ;  on  Isaiah  ix.  6. 
X  Com.  on  Zech.  xi.  7.     '  §  Opera  ed.  Schult.,  V.,  p.  556,  seq. 


THE  TEXT  OF  THE  BIBLE.  141 

not  meet  the  objection  that  Paul  violently  and  inaptly- 
wrested  the  words  of  Moses  and  David,  by  showing  that 
he  gives  the  meaning,  syllable  by  syllable,  but  represents 
the  apostle  as  polishing  and  embellishing  and  applying 
the  words  to  his  own  purposes.*  He  is  not  anxious 
about  the  error  of  Matthew  xxvii.  9,  in  the  citation 
of  Jeremiah  instead  of  Zechariah.  So  Luther  points 
out  two  errors  or  slips  of  memory  in  the  discourse  of 
Stephen,  Acts  vii.  The  reformers  laid  down  no  theory 
of  inspiration,  such  as  would  cover  accent  and  letter, 
word,  logic,  and  grammar.  They  regarded  the  external 
word  as  the  instrument ;  they  sought  the  sense,  the  infal 
lible  Divine  Word  contained  in  the  Scriptures,  applied 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  their  souls.f 

It  is  astonishing  how  far  the  Swiss  Protestant  divines 
had  allowed  themselves  to  drift  away  from  this  position 
of  liberty,  and  how  greatly  they  had  entangled  them- 
selves once  more  in  the  bonds  of  traditionalism.  This 
was  chiefly  due  to  another  Jewish  scholar,  Azzariah  de 
Rossi,:};  who  claims,  to  use  the  concise  statement  of  Dr. 
Ginsberg :  § 

"  That  as  to  the  origin  and  development  of  the  vowels  their  force 
and  virtue  were  invented  by,  or  communicated  to,  Adam,  in  Para- 
dise ;  transmitted  to  and  by  Moses  ;  that  they  had  been  partially 
forgotten,  and  their  pronunciation  vitiated  during  the  Babylonian 
captivity ;  that  they  had  been  restored  by  Ezra,  but  that  they  had 
been  forgotten  again  in  the  wars  and  struggles  during  and  after  the 
destruction  of  the  second  temple  ;  and  that  the  Massorites,  after  the 
close  of  the  Talmud,  revised  the  system,  and  permanently  fixed  the 
pronunciation  by  the  contrivance  of  the  present  signs.  Th."s  accounts 


*  Com.  on  Rom.  x.  6 ;  Heb.  iv.  4. 

t  Compare  Tholuck,  art.  Inspiration  in  Herzog  Ency.,  I.  Aufl.,  VI.,  696,  seq. 
X  Tht  Light  of  tlu  Eyes,    t]"'D"'^    "n5<73    III.    59,  1574-5- 
§  U/e  0/  Elias  Levita,  in  connection  with  his  edition  of  Levita's  Massoreth 
Ha-Massoreth,  London,  1867,  p.  53. 


142  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

for  the  fact  that  the  present  vowel  points  are  not  mentioned  in  the 
Talmud.  The  reason  why  Moses  did  not  punctuate  the  copy  of  the 
law  vyhich  he  wrote,  is  that  its  import  should  not  be  understood 
without  oral  tradition.  Besides,  as  the  law  has  seventy  different 
meanings,  the  writing  of  it,  without  points,  greatly  aids  to  obtain 
these  various  interpretations ;  whereas  the  affixing  of  the  vowel 
signs  would  preclude  all  permatations  and  transpositions,  and 
greatly  restrict  the  sense  by  fixing  the  pronunciation." 

His  principal  reliance  was  upon  some  passages  of  the 
book  Zohar  and  other  cabalistic  writings,  which  he 
claimed  to  be  older  than  the  Mishna,  but  which  have 
since  been  shown  to  be  greatly  interpolated  and  of  ques-* 
tionable  antiquity.* 

Relying  upon  these  the  elder  Buxtorf  with  his  great 
authority  misled  a  large  number  of  the  most  prominent 
of  the  Reformed  divines  of  the  continent  to  maintain  the 
opinion  of  the  divine  origin  and  authority  of  the  Mas- 
soretic  vowel  points  and  accents.f  In  England,  Fulke,:(: 
Broughton,§  and  Lightfoot  \  adopted  the  same  opinion. 
These  rabbinical  scholars  exerted,  in  this  respect,  a  dis- 
astrous influence  upon  the  study  of  the  Old  Testament. 

II.  TEXTUAL  CRITICISM  IN  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

• 

The  Protestant  critical  principle  reasserted  itself 
mightily  through  Ludwig  Cappellus,  of  the  French 
school  of  Saumur,  where  a  freer  type  of  theology  had 
maintained  itself.  A  new  impulse  to  Hebrew  scholar- 
ship had  been   given  by  Amira,  Gabriel   Sionita,  and 


*  Ginsberg  ia  /.  c,  p.  52  ;  Wogue,  Histoire  de  la  Bible,  Paris,  1881,  p.  121. 

t  Tiberius  sive  Commentarius  Masorethicus,  Basle,  1620. 

X  A  defence  0/  the  sincere  and  true  translations  0/  the  Holy  Scriptures  into 
the  English  Tongue^  etc.,  1583 ;  Parker  Society  edition,  1843,  pp.  55  and  578. 

§  Daniel:  his  ChaJdee  visions  and  his  Hebrew,  London,  1597,  on  chap.  iz.  26. 

I  Chorographical  Century,  c.  81 ;  Works,  Pitman's  edition,  1823,  Vol.  IX., 
p.  150,  seq. 


THE  TEXT  OF  THE  BIBLE.  143 

Other  Maronites  who  brought  a  wealth  of  Oriental 
learning  to  the  attention  of  Christian  scholars.  Po- 
cock  journeyed  to  the  East,  and  returned  with  rich 
spoils  of  Arabic  literature.  France,  Holland,  and  Eng- 
land vied  with  one  another  in  their  use  of  these  literary- 
treasures,  and  pushed  them  for  the  study  of  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures  over  against  the  rabbinical  tradition.  Erpen- 
ius  in  Holland,  the  great  Arabist,  was  the  teacher  of 
Cappellus,  and  first  introduced  his  work  to  the  public. 
Cappellus  fell  back  on  the  views  of  Elias  Levita,  the 
teacher  of  the  reformers,  and  the  reformers  themselves, 
and  denied  the  inspiration  of  the  Hebrew  vowel  points 
and  accents,  and  the  common  Massoretic  text,  and  in- 
sisted upon  its  revision,  through  the  comparison  of 
MSS.  and  ancient  versions.*  Cappellus  was  sustained 
by  the  French  theologians  generally,  even  by  Rivetus, 
also  by  Cocceius,  the  father  of  the  Federal  school  in 
Holland,  who  first  gave  the  author's  name  to  the  pub- 
lic, and  the  body  of  English  critics.f 

In  this  connection  a  series  of  great  Polyglots  ap- 
peared, beginning  with  the  Antwerp  of  the  Jesuit 
Arias  Montanus,  assisted  by  And.  Masius,  Fabricus 
Boderianus,  and  Franz  Rapheleng ;  :j:  followed  by  the 
Paris  Polyglot  of  Michael  de  Jay,§  edited  by  Morinus 
and  Gabriel  Sionita;  and  culminating  in  the  London 
Polyglot  of  Brian  Walton,  in  which  he  was  aided  by 
Ed.  Castle,  Ed.  Pococke,  Thos.  Hyde,  and  others  1 — 
the  greatest  critical  achievement  of  the  17th  century, 


*  His  work  was  published  anonymously  in  1624  at  Leyden  uilder  the  title  Ar- 
canum putictuationis  revelatum,  though  completed  in  1621. 

t  Comp.  Schnedermann,  Die  Controverse  des  Lud.  Cappellus  mil  den  Bux- 
tor/en^  Leipzig:,  1879. 

X  Biblia  Regia,  8  vols,  folio,  1569-73.  §  1629-45,  10  vok.  folio. 

I  6  vols,  folio,  1657. 


144  BIBLICAL  STUDF. 

which  remains  as  the  classic  basis  for  the  comparative 
study  of  versions  until  the  present  day. 

The  work  of  Cappellus  remained  unanswered,  and 
worked  powerfully  until  1648.  In  the  meantime  the 
Roman  Catholic  Frenchman,  Morinus,  taking  the  same 
position  as  Cappellus,  pressed  it  in  order  to  show 
the  need  of  Church  authority  and  tradition.*  This 
greatly  complicated  the  discussion  by  making  the  view 
a  basis  for  an  attack  on  the  Protestant  position.  The 
younger  Buxtorf  was  stirred  up  to  maintain  the  scho- 
lastic position  against  Cappellus.f  The  three  universities 
of  Sedan,  Geneva,  and  Leyden  were  so  aroused  against 
Cappellus  that  they  refused  to  allow  the  publication  of 
his  great  work,  Critica  Sacra,  which,  however,  appeared 
in  1650;  the  first  of  a  series  of  corresponding  produc- 
tions.:}: Heidegger  and  Turretine  rallied  the  universities 
of  Zurich,  Geneva,  and  Basle  to  the  Zurich  Consensus, 
which  was  adopted  in  1675,  against  all  the  distinguish- 
ing doctrines  of  the  school  of  Saumur,  and  the  more 
liberal  type  of  Calvinism,  asserting  for  the  first  and  only 
time  in  the  symbols  of  the  church  the  doctrine  of  verbal 
inspiration,  together  with  the  inspiration  of  accents  and 
points. 

Thus  the  formal  principle  of  Protestantism  was  strait- 
ened, and  its  vital  power  destroyed  by  the  erection  of 
dogmatic  barriers  against  biblical  criticism.  "They  for- 
got that  they  by  this  standpoint  again  made  Christian 
faith  entirely  dependent  on  church  tradition:  yes,  with 
respect  to  the  Old  Testament,  on  the  synagogue."  § 

The  controversy  between    Brian  Walton  and   John 


*  Exercitationes  biblicce,  1633. 

t  Tract,  defunct,  vocal,  et  accent,  in  libr.  V.,  T.,  heb.  origine  antiq.^  1648. 

X  See  Tholuck,  Akadem.  Leben,  II.,  p.  332. 

§  Domer,  Gesch.  Prot.  Theologie,  p.  451. 


THE  TEXT  OF  THE  BIBLE.  I45 

Owen  is  instructive  just  here.  John  Owen  had  pre- 
pared a  tract,*  in  which  he  takes  the  scholastic  ground, 
"  Nor  is  it  enough  to  satisfy  us  that  the  doctrines  men- 
tioned are  preserved  entire ;  every  tittle  and  iota  in  the 
Word  of  God  must  come  under  our  consideration,  as  be- 
ing as  such  from  God."  f 

Before  the  tract  was  issued  he  was  confronted  by  the 
Prolegomena  to  Walton's  Biblia  Polyglotta,  which,  he 
perceived,  undermined  his  theory  of  inspiration,  and, 
therefore,  added  an  appendix,:}:  in  which  he  maintains 
that: 

"  The  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  were  immedi- 
ately and  entirely  given  out  by  God  himself,  His  mind  being  in  them 
represented  unto  us  without  the  least  interveniency  of  such  mediums 
and  ways  as  were  capable  of  giving  change  or  alteration  to  the  least 
iota  or  syllable." 

Brian  Walton  admirably  replies  to  him : 

"  For  when  at  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation,  divers  questions 
arose  about  the  Scriptures  and  the  Church  ;  the  Romanists  observ- 
ing that  the  punctuation  of  the  Hebrew,  text  was  an  invention  of  the 
Masorites,  they  thereupon  inferred  that  the  text  without  the  points 
might  be  taken  in  divers  senses,  and  that  none  was  tyed  to  the  read- 
ing of  the  Rabbins,  and  therefore  concluded  that  the  Scripture  is 
ambiguous  and  doubtful  without  the  interpretation  and  testimony 
of  the  Church,  so  that  all  must  flee  to  the  authority  of  the  Church 
and  depend  ujkmi  her  for  the  true  sense  and  meaning  of  the  Script- 
ures. On  the  other  side,  some  Protestants,  fearing  that  some  ad- 
vantage might  be  given  to  the  Romanisis  by  this  concession,  and  not 
considering  how  the  certainty  of  the  Scriptures  might  well  be  main- 
tained though  the  Text  were  unpointed,  instead  of  denying  the  con- 


*  The  Divine  Original^  Authority,  and  Self-evidencing  Light  and  Purity  0/ 
the  Scriptures. 

\  Works,  rvi.  p.  303. 

X  0/  the  integrity  and  purity  of  the  Hebrew  Text  of  the  Scriptures,  with 
considerations  of  the  Prolegomena  and  Appendix  to  the  late  ^^  Biblia  Poly- 
glot ta,"  Oxford,  1659. 


146  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

seqttence,  which  they  might  well  have  done,  thought  fit '  rather  to 
deny  the  assumption,  and  to  maintain  that  the  points  were  of  2?/- 
vine  original,  vihtr^hy  they  involved  themselves  in  extreme  laby- 
rinths, engaging  themselves  in  defence  of  that  which  might  be  easily 
proved  to  be  false,  and  thereby  wronged  the  cause  which  they 
seemed  to  defend.  Others,  therefore,  of  more  learning  and  judg- 
.tnent  knowing  that  this  position  of  the  divine  original  oi  iht  points 
could  not  be  made  good  ;  and  that  the  truth  needed  not  the  patron- 
age of  an  untruth, -would  not  engage  themselves  therein,  but  granted 
it  to  be  true,  that  the  points  were  invented  by  the  Rabbins,  yet  de- 
nied the  consequence,  maintaining,  notwithstanding,  that  the  reading 
and  sense  of  the  text  might  be  certain  Wiihoxst  punctuation,  and  that 
therefore  the  Scriptures  did  not  at  all  depend  upon  the  authority  of 
the  Church  :  and  of  this  judgment  were  .the  chief  Protestant  Di- 
vines, and  greatest  linguists  that  then  were,  or  have  been  since  in 
the  Christian  world,  such  as  I  named  before ;  Luther,  Zwinglius, 
Calvin,  Beza,  Musculus,  Brentius,  Pellicane,  Oecolampadius,  Mercer, 
Piscator,  P.  Phagius,  Drusius,  Schindler,  Martinius,  Scaliger,  De 
Dieu,  Casaubon,  Erpenius,  Sixt.  Amana,  Jac.  and  Ludov.  Capellus, 
Grotius,  etc.  —  among  ourselves.  Archbishop  Ussher,  BisTiop  Pri- 
deaux,  Mr.  Mead,  Mr.  St^lden,  and  innumerable  others,  whom  I  for- 
bear to  name,  who  conceived  it  would  nothing  disadvantage  the 
cause,  to  yield  that  proposition,  for  that  they  could  still  make  it 
good,  that  the  Scripture  was  in  itself  a  sufficient  and  certain  rvXe. 
for  faith  and  life,  not  depending  upon  any  human  authority  to  sup- 
port it."  * 

We  have  quoted  this  extract  at  length  for  the  light  it 
casts  upon  the  struggle  of  criticism  at  the  time.  John 
Owen,  honored  as  a  preacher  and  dogmatic  writer,  but 
certainly  no  exegete,  had  spun  a  theory  of  inspiration 
after  the  ^/r?<7r/ scholastic  method,  and  with  it  did  bat- 
tle against  the  great  Polyglot.  It  was  a  Quixotic  at- 
tempt, and  resulted  in  ridiculous  failure.  His  dogma  is 
crushed  as  a  shell  in  the  grasp  of  a  giant.  The  indigna- 
tion of  Walton  burns  hot  against  this  wanton  and  un- 
reasoning attack.     But   he   consoles  himself  with  the 

*  The  Considerator  Considered,  London,  1659,  p.  220,  seq. 


THE  TEXT  OF  THE  BIBLE.  I47 

opening  reflection  that  Origen's  Hexapla ;  Jerome's 
Vulgate  ;  the  Complutensian  Polyglot ;  Erasmus'  Greek 
Testament ;  the  Antwerp  and  Paris  Polyglots  have  all 
in  turn  been  assailed  by  those  whose  theories  and  dog- 
mas have  been  threatened  or  overturned  by  a  scholarly 
induction  of  facts. 

The  theory  of  the  scholastics  prevailed  but  for  a  brief 
period  in  Switzerland,  where  it  was  overthrown  by  the 
reaction  under  the  leadership  of  the  younger  Turretine. 
The  theory  of  John  Owen  did  not  influence  the  West- 
minster men  : 

"  In  fact,  it  was  not  till  several  years  after  the  Confession  was 
completed,  and  the  star  of  Owen  was  in  the  ascendant,  that  under 
the  spell  of  a  genius  and  learning  only  second  to  Calvin,  English 
Puritanism  so  generally  identified  itself  with  what  is  termed  his  less 
liberal  view."  * 

Owen's  scholastic  type  of  theology  worked  in  the  doc- 
trine of  inspiration,  as  well  as  in  other  dogmas,  to  the 
detriment  of  the  simpler  and  more  evangelical  West- 
minster theology ;  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  gave  Puritan  theology  a  scholastic  type 
which  it  did  not  possess  before.  But  it  did  not  prevent 
such  representative  Presbyterians  as  Matthew  Poole, 
Edmund  Calamy,  and  the  Cambridge  men,  with  Baxter, 
from  taking  the  more  evangelical  Westminster  position. 
The  critics  of  the  Reformed  church  produced  master- 
pieces of  biblical  learning,  which  have  been  the  pride 
and  boast  of  the  churches  to  the  present.  Like  Cappel- 
lus,  they  delighted  in  the  name  critical,  and  were  not 
afraid  of  it.  The  Critici  Sacri  of  John  Pearson,  Anton 
Scattergood,  Henry, Gouldman,  and  Rich.  Pearson,  fol- 
lowed up  Walton's  Polyglot  in  1660  (9  vols,  folio),  and 


*  Mitchell,  Minutes  0/  Westminster  Assembly,  p.  xx. 


148  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

this  was  succeeded  by  Matthew  Poole's  Synopsis  Criii- 
corum  in  1669  (5  vols,  folio). 

III.  TEXTUAL  CRITICISM  IN  THE   EIGHTEENTH  AND 
NINETEENTH   CENTURIES. 

Biblical  criticism  continued  in  England  till  the  midst 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Mill  issued  his  critical  New 
Testament  in  1707,  the  fruit  of  great  industry,  and  was 
assailed  by  unthinking  men  who  preferred  pious  igno- 
rance to  a  correct  New  Testament.*  But  Richard  Bent- 
ley  espoused  the  cause  of  his  friend  with  invincible 
arguments,  and  he  himself  spent  many  years  in  the 
collection  of  manuscripts,  but  died  leaving  his  magnifi- 
cent work  incomplete,  and  his  plans  to  be  carried  out 
by  foreign  scholars.  » 

For  "  now  original  research  in  the  science  of  Biblical  Criticism, 
so  far  as  the  New  Testament  is  concerned,  seems  to  have  left  the 
shores  of  England  to  return  no  more  for  upwards  of  a  century ;  and 
we  must  look  to  Germany  if  we  wish  to  trace  the  further  progress  of 
investigations  which  our  countrymen  had  so  auspiciously  begun."  t 

Bishop  Lowth  did  for  the  Old  Testament  what  Bent- 
ley  did  for  the  New.  In  his  works  %  he  called  the  atten- 
tion of  scholars  to  the  necessity  of  emendation  of  the 
Massoretic  text,  and  encouraged  Kennicott  to  collate 
the  manuscripts  of  the  Old  Testament,  which  he  did  and 
published  the  result  in  a  monumental  work  in  1776- 
l78o.§    This  was  preceded  by  an  introductory  work  in 

1753-59-1 


*  Scrivener,  Introduction  to  the  Criticism  of  the  N.  T.,  ad  edit.  1874,  p.  400. 

t  Scrivener  in  /.«■.,  p  402. 

X  De  Sacra  Poesi  Hebraeorum,  1753,  and  Isaiah  :  A  New  Translation,  with 
a  Preliminary  Dissertation  and  Notes,  1778,  2d  edition,  1779. 

§  Vetus  Test.  Heb.  cum  var.  lectionibus,  2  torn.,  Oxford. 

I  The  state  0/  the  printed  Hebrew  Text  of  the  Old  Testament  considered, 
2  vols.,  Svo.     Oxford. 


THE  TEXT  OF  THE  BIBLE.  {^^Q 

After  this  splendid  beginning,  Old  Testament  criti- 
cism followed  its  New  Testament  sister  to  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe  and  remained  absent  until  our  own  day. 

On  the  continent  the  work  of  Mill  was  carried 
on  by  J.  A.  Bengel  *  J.  C.  Wetstein,t  J.  J.  Gries- 
bach,:{:  J.  M.  A.  Scholz,§  C.  Lachmann,!  culminating  in 
Const.  Tischendorf,  who  edited  the  chief  uncial  authori- 
ties, discovered  and  edited  the  Codex  Sinaiticus,^  and 
issued  numerous  editions  of  the  New  Testament,  the 
earliest  in  1841.  He  crowned  his  work  with  the  eighth 
critical  edition  of  the  New  Testament,  which  he  lived 
to  complete,  but  had  to  leave  the  Prolegomena  to 
another.**  Tischendorf  is  the  greatest  textual  critic  the 
world  has  yet  produced. 

In  the  Old  Testament,  De  Rossi  carried  on  the 
work  of  Kennicott.ft  Little  has  been  done  since  his  day 
until  recent  times,  when  Baer  united  with  Delitzsch  in 
issuing  in  parts  a  revised  Massoretic  text,  1 869-1 882; 
Hermann  Strack  examined  the  recently-discovered  Ori- 
ental manuscripts,  the  chief  of  which  is  the  St.  Petersburg 
codex  of  the  Prophets  of  the  year  916  A.D,:{::{:  and  Frens- 
dorf  undertook  the  production  of  the  Massora  Magna.%% 


*  Prodromus,  A'.  T.  Gr.,  1725.     Novum  Test.,  1734, 

t  yew  Test.  Gr.  cum  lectionibus  variantibus  Codicum,  etc.    Amst,  1751-2. 

X  Syvibolae  Criticae,  II.  torn.,  1785-93. 

§  Bib.  krit.  Reise  Leipzig,  1823  ;  N.  T.  Graece,  2  Bde,  Leipzig,  1830-36. 

I  Xuvum  Test.  Graece  et  Latine,  2  Bde.,  Berlin,  1842-50. 

^  Bibliorum  Codex  Sinaiticus  Petropolitanus,  St.  Petersburg,  1862  ;  Die 
SinaiUbel,  Ihre  Entdeckung,  Herausgabe  und  Erwerbun^,  Leipzig,  1871! 

-^-*  Novum  Test  amentum  Graece.  Editio  octava:  Crilica  Major,  Lipsiae, 
1S65-72.  The  Prolegomena  is  in  the  hands  of  an  American  scholar.  Dr.  C.  R. 
Gregory. 

tt  Variae  lectioms  Vet.  Test.,  4  torn.,  Parm.,  1784-1788. 

XX  Prophet  arum  Posteriorum  Codex  Babylonicus  Petropolitanus,  Pcuopoli, 
1S76. 

§§  Die  Massora  Magna;  Erster  Theil,  Massoretisches  Worterbuch,  Hanover 
und  Leipzig,  1S76. 


150  •  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Within  recent  times  textual  criticism  has  taken  strong 
hold  again  in  England.  S.  P.  Tregelles,"*  F.  H.  Scrivener,t 
B.  F.  Westcott,  and  F.  J.  A.  Hort  X  have  advanced  the 
textual  criticism  of  the  New  Testament  beyond  the 
mark  reached  by  continental  scholars.  In  Old  Testa- 
ment criticism  England  is  advancing  to  the  front  rank. 
The  work  of  Ginsberg  on  the  Massora  §  is  the  greatest 
achievement  since  the  unpublished  work  of  Elias  Levitei. 
But  the  Massoretic  text  is  only  the  beginning  toward  a 
correct  text  of  the  Old  Testament. 

The  Textual  Criticism  of  the  Old  Testament  is  at 
least  half  a  century  behind  the  New  Testament. f  And 
the  reason  of  it  is,  that  scholars  have  hesitated  to  go 
back  of  the  Massoretic  text.  Few  have  given  their  at- 
tention to  the  literary  features  of  the  Bible  and  espec- 
ially its  poetic  structure.  But  it  is  just  here  that  the 
eyes  of  the  student  are  opened  to  the  necessity  of  emen- 
dation of  the  text  where  we  can  receive  no  help  from 
the  Massorites,  who  seem  to  have  been  profoundly  igno- 
rant of  the  structure  of  Hebrew  poetry.  Prof.  Gratz, 
the  Jewish  scholar,  has  recently  said  that  we  ought  not 
to  speak  of  a  Massoretic  text  that  has  been  made  sure 
to  us,  but  rather  of  different  schools  of  Massorites,  and 
follow  their  example  and  remove  impossible  readings 
from  the  text.^ 


»  77/<?  Greek  New  Testament  edited /rojn  ancient  authorities,  etc.,  4to,  1857- 
1872,  pp.  1017. 

t  Plain  Introduciien  to  the  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament,  2d  edition,  1874. 

X  The  New  Testament  in  the  Original  Greek.  Vol.  IL  Introduction  and 
Appendix.    N.  Y.,  1882. 

S  The  Massorah  compiled  from  Manuscripts  Alphabetically  and  Lexically 
arranged,  Vol.  I.  Aleph— Yod,  London,  1880. 

I  Davidson,  Treatise  of  Biblical  Cr.ticism,  Boston,  1853, 1.,  p.  160,  seq. 

1  Krit.  Com.  zu  den  Psalmen  nebst  Text  und  Uebersetzung,  Breslau,  I., 
1882,  p.  iiS,  seq. 


THE  TEXT  OF  THE  BIBLE.  151 

Bishop  Lowth,  with  his  fine  aesthetic  sense  and  in- 
sight into  the  principles  of  Hebrew  poetry,  saw  and 
stated  the  truth  : 

"If  it  be  asked,  what  then  is  the  real  condition  of  the  present  He- 
brew Text ;  and  of  what  sort,  and  in  what  number,  are  the  mistakes 
which  we  must  acknowledge  to  be  found  in  it :  it  is  answered,  that 
the  condition  of  the  Hebrew  Text  is  such,  as  from  the  nature  of  the 
thing,  the  antiquity  of  the  writings  themselves,  the  want  of  due  care, 
or  critical  skill  (in  which  latter  at  least  the  Jews  have  been  exceed- 
ingly deficient),  might  in  all  reason  have  been  expected,  that  the  mis- 
takes are  frequent,  and  of  various  kinds ;  of  letters,  words,  and  sen- 
tences ;  by  variation,  omission,  transposition  ;  such  as  often  injure 
the  beauty  and  elegance,  embarrass  the  construction,  alter  or  obscure 
the  sense,  and  sometimes  render  it  quite  unintelligible.  If  it  be  ob- 
jected, that  a  concession,  so  large  as  this  is,  tends  to  invalidate  the 
authority  of  Scripture ;  that  it  gives  up  in  effect  the  certainty  and 
authenticity  of  the  doctrines  contained  in  it,  and  exposes  our  religion 
naked  and  defenceless  to  the  assaults  of  its  enemies:  this,  I  think,  is 
a  vain  and  groundless  apprehension Important  and  funda- 
mental doctrines  do  not  wholly  depend  on  single  passages  ;  and  uni- 
versal harmony  runs  through  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;  the  parts  mutually 
support  each  other,  and  supply  one  another's  deficiencies  and  obscu- 
rities. Superficial  damages  and  partial  defects  may  greatly  diminish 
the  beauty  of  the  edifice,  without  injuring  its  strength,  and  bringing 
on  utter  ruirr  and  destruction."  * 

The  views  of  the  critics  prevailed  over  those  of  the 
scholastics,  and  no  one  would  now  venture  to  dispute 
their  conclusions. 

IV.   THE   TEXT   OF   THE   OLD   TESTAMENT. 

It  has  become  more  and  more  evident  that  the  He- 
brew vowel  points  and  accents  were  not  attached  to 
the  original  MSS.  of  their  authors,  but  that  they  have 
been  the  product  of  a  long  historical  development. 
The  Arabic  Koran  gives  us  doubtless  the  simplest  sys- 

*  Lowth,  Isaiah,  zd  ed.,  London,  1779,  pp.  lix.,  Ix. 


152  .BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

tem.  The  Syriac  gives  us  a  double  system,  the  Greek  and 
the  Syrian  proper,  standing  between  the  Arabic  and  the 
Hebrew.  The  Hebrew  has  also  two  systems,  the  Pales- 
tinian and  the  Babylonian,  the  latter  preserved  in  the 
Codex  PetripoL,  916  A.D.,  which  was  unknown  until  re- 
cent times.  These  two  evidently  developed  side  by  side 
and  go  back  on  an  earlier,  simpler  system,  somewhat 
like  the  Arabic,  which  has  been  lost.*  The  origin  of  the 
system  of  pointing  the  Shemitic  languages  was  proba- 
bly in  the  Syrian  school  at  Edessa,  and  from  thence  it 
passed  over  from  the  Syriac  text  at  first  to  the  Arabic 
and  afterward  to  the  Hebrew  texts.  The  movement  be- 
gan with  diacritical  signs  to  distinguish  certain  letters 
and  forms,  such  as  we  find  in  the  Syriac.  This  gave 
place  to  a  system  of  vowel  points.  Among  the  Hebrews 
the  Babylonian  is  the  earlier,  and  is  characterized  by 
placing  the  vowel  points  above  the  letters  ;  the  Tiberian 
is  the  later  and  more  perfect  system,  and  has  therefore 
prevailed.  The  system  did  not  reach  its  present  condi- 
tion until  the  seventh  century  at  Babylon  and  the  mid- 
dle of  the  eighth  century  of  our  era,  in  Palestine,!  al- 
though Ginsberg  attributes  the  origin  of  the  Babylonian 
system  to  Acha,  about  550,  and  the  Tiberian  to  Mocha, 
about  5704  ^^  ^^^  th^  work  of  the  Massoretic  Jewish 
critics.  The  accents  went  through  a  similar  course  of 
development.  They  serve  for  a  guide  in  the  cantillation 
of  the  synagogues  even  more  than  for  division  of  the 
sentences  and  the  determination  of  the  tone.  These  also 
were  modelled  after  the  musical  notation  of  the  Syrian 
Church.§     Hence  the  double  tradition  as  to  the  place  of 

*  Gesenius,  Hebr.  Gram.^  ed.  Rodiger  and  Kautzsch,  22  Aufl.,  p.  31. 
t  Dillmann,  ^»'*^//*jr/.  A.  T,,  in  Herzog,  £ncy.  II.,  pp.  394-6. 
X  Life  of  Elias  Levita,  in  /.  f.,  p.  61,  seq. 

S  Wickes,  Treatise  on  the  Accentuation  of  the  Three  so-called  Poetic  Books 
of  the  Old  Testament.    0:cford,  1881. 


THE  TEXT  OF  THE  BIBLE.  153 

the  accent,  the  German  and  Polish  Jews  placing  it  after 
the  Aramaic  on  the  penult,  whereas  the  Spanish  and 
Italian  Jews  followed  by  Christians  place  it  on  the  ulti- 
mate. Bickell  has  recently  decided  against  the  present 
accepted  method.* 

Still  further  the  square  Aramaic  characters  used  in 
our  Bible  were  exchanged  for  earlier  Hebrew  letters, 
such  as  we  see  upon  ancient  coins,  in  the  Samaritan  MS. 
of  the  Pentateuch,  the  Siloam  Inscription, f  and  on  the 
Mesha  stone.  This  change  was  made  not  earlier  than 
the  fourth  century  B.C.,:}:  and  upon  it  the  Massoretic 
pointing  depends.  It  is  true  that  the  present  consonant 
text  was  fixed  before  the  Talmudic  era  by  the  Jewish 
school  of  Tiberias,  and  the  differences  in  reading  since 
that  time  are  few  and  comparatively  unimportant  in  the 
MSS.  thus  far  collated,§  but  the  ancient  Syriac  version, 
and  especially  the  LXX,  and  the  Samaritan  copy,  go  back 
of  the  labors  of  the  Massoretic  period  and  the  work  of 
the  schools  of  Tiberias  and  Babylon,  and  give  testimony 
to  an  earlier  text  than  that  presented  to  us  in  the  pres- 
ent Hebrew  text. 

It  is  characteristic  of  scholastics  that  they  underrate 
these  versions.  Even  Keil,  in  his  anxiety  to  maintain 
the  present  Massoretic  text,  charges  the  LXX  version 
with  the  carelessness  and  caprice  of  transcribers  and  an 
uncritical  and  wanton  passion  for  emendation.  But  this 
is  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  the  LXX  version  was  the 
authorized  text  of  the  ancient  church,  that  the  New 
Testament  citations  are  generally  supposed  to  be  large- 


♦  Carmina  Veteris  Testamenti  Metrice,  Oeniponte,  1882,  p.  219,  se^. 
+  See  author's  article  on  the  Siloam  Inscription  in  Presbyterian  Review,  III., 
p.  401,  seq. 
X  Dillmann,  Bileltext.  d.  A.  T.  Herzog,  II.,  p.  384, 
^  Strack,  Prole^.  Critica,  Leip.,  1873,  p.  66/. 


154  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

ly  from  it,  and  that  its  testimony  is  centuries  earlier 
than  that  of  the  Jewish  school  of  Tiberias.  The  Phar- 
isaical authority  was  directed  to  destroy  the  confidence 
of  the  Hellenistic  Jews  in  it,  and  the  version  of  Aquila 
was  made  to  supplant  it  and  rally  the  Jews  of  the  world 
around  an  official  and  universally  received  text.*  But 
whether  a  deliberate  attempt  was  made  to  suppress  and 
destroy  all  varying  copies,  as  W.  Robertson  Smith  fol- 
lowing Noeldeke  supposes,t  is  questionable.  We  doubt 
not  that  those  zealots,  who  under  the  lead  of  Rabbi 
Akiba  brought  about  the  destruction  of  their  country 
and  the  universal  hatred  of  their  race,  were  capable  of 
^  this  wickedness,  but  we  have  not  learned  that  there  is 
sufficient  historical  evidence  to  sustain  this  opinion. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  moreover,  as  Robertson  Smith 
states :  "  It  has  gradually  become  clear  to  the  vast  ma- 
jority of  conscientious  students  that  the  Septuagint  is 
really  of  the  greatest  value  as  a  witness  to  the  early 
state  of  the  text.":|:  Bishop  Lowth  already  §  calls  the 
Massoretic  text  - 

"  The  Jews'  interpretation  of  the  Old  Testament."  "  We  do  not 
deny  the  usefulness  of  this  interpretation,  nor  would  we  be  thought 
to  detract  from  its  merits  by  setting  it  in  this  light ;  it  is  perhaps, 
upon  the  whole,  preferable  to  any  one  of  the  ancient  versions;  it  has 
probably  the  great  advantage  of  having  been  formed  upon  a  tradi- 
tionary explanation  of  the  text  and  of  being  generally  agreeable  to 
that  sense  of  Scripture  which  passed  current  and  was  commonly  re- 
ceived by  the  Jewish  nation  in  ancient  times :  and  it  has  certainly 
been  of  great  service  to  the  modems  in  leading  them  into  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Hebrew  tongue.     But  they  would  have  made  a  much 


*  GraeU,  Gesck.  der  jfuden,  1866,  IV.,  p.  437  ;  Joel,  Blicke  in  die  Religions 
geschichte  turn  Anfang  des  zweiten  Christlichen  Jahrhunderts,  I.,  1880,  p. 

t  Old  Test,  in  yevoisk  Church,  p.  74.  %  In  /.  e.,  p.  86. 

§  In  his  P-reliminary  Dissert,  to  IsaiaJi,  2d  edit.,  London,  1779,  p.  Iv. 


THE  TEXT  OF  THE  BIBLE.  I55 

better  use  of  it,  and  a  greater  progress  in  the  explication  of  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testanoent,  had  they  consulted  it,  without  ab- 
solutely submitting  to  its  authority ;  had  they  considered  it  as  an  as- 
sistant, not  as  an  infallible  guide." 

Probably  few  scholars  would  go  so  far  as  this,  yet  there 
is  a  strong  tendency  in  that'direction.  It  is  a  most  sig- 
nificant fact  that  the  New  Testament  does  not  base  its 
citations  upon  the  original  Hebrew  text  in  literal  quota- 
tion, but  uses  ordinarily  the  LXX  and  sometimes  the 
Hebrew  and  possibly  ancient  Aramaic  Targums  with 
the  utmost  freedom.  This  question  of  citation  has  ever 
given  trouble  to  the  iapologist.  Richard  Baxter  meets 
it  in  this  way : 

"  But  one  instance  I  more  doubt  of  myself,  which  is,  when  Christ 
and  his  apostles  do  oft  use  the  Septuagint  in  their  citations  out  of 
the  Old  Testament,  whether  it  be  alwaies  their  meaning  to  justifie 
each  translation  and  particle  of  sense,  as  the  Word  of  God  and 
rightly  done;  or  only  to  use  that  as  tolerable  and  containing  the 
main  truth  intended  which  was  then  in  use  among  the  Jews,  and 
therefore  understood  by  them  ;  and  so  best  to  the  auditors.  And 
also  whether  every  citation  of  number  or  genealogies  from  the  Sep- 
tuagint, intended  an  approbation  of  it  in  the  very  points  it  differeth 
from  the  Hebrew  copies."  * 

Professor  Bohl,  of  Vienna,  has  recently  advanced  the 
theory  that  these  citations  are  all  from  a  Targum  used 
in  the  synagogues  of  Palestine  in  the  first  Christian  cent- 
ury', which  has  been  lost.f  The  bool^  of  Jubilees  of  the 
first  Christian  century  and  other  pseudepigraphs  of  the 
time  testify  with  the  Samaritan  text  and  Targum  to 
differences  of  text  not  represented  in  the  Massoretic 
system.:}: 

*  More  Reasons,  1672,  p.  49 ;  see  also  p.  45. 

+  Forschungen  n(uh  einer  Volksbibel  zur  Zeit  Jesu,  Wien,  1S73 ;  Alttestament' 
lichen  Citate  in  NeMtn  Test.,  Wien,  1878. 

X  Noldeke,  Alttestamentliche  Literatur,  1868,  p.  241 ;  Dillmann,  Beitrage 
aus  dem  Buck  dcr  Jubilaen  zur  Kritik  des  Pentateuch  Textes,  1S83. 


156  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

But  we  must  go  still  further  back  than  the  versions 
and  citations  to  the  parallel  passages  and  duplicate 
psalms,  prophecies,  and  narratives  of  the  Old  Testament 
in  our  study  of  the  original  text.  No  one  can  study  at- 
tentively the  texts  of  Pss.  xiv.  and  liii.,  Ps.  xviii.  and  I 
Chron.  xvi.,  Micah  iv.  and  Isa.  ii.,  not  to  speak  of  the 
many  other  parallel  passages,  without  being  impressed 
with  the  liberty  that  has  been  taken,  in  the  most  ancient 
times,  in  making  intentional  changes,  showing : 

'•With  what  freedom  later  authors  worked  over  ancient  docu- 
ments, and  also  that  they  were  not  accustomed  to  regard  the  preser- 
vation of  every  word  and  letter  as  necessary."  * 

V.   TEXTUAL  CRITICISM  AND   INSPIRATION. 

So  far  as  the  Old  Testament  is  concerned,  the  the- 
ory of  Buxtorf,  Heidegger,  Turretine,  Voetius,  Owen, 
and  the  Zurich  Consensus,  as  to  vowel  points  and  ac- 
cents, has  been  so  utterly  disproved  that  no  biblical 
scholar  of  the  present  day  would  venture  to  defend 
them.  But  can  their  theory  of  Verbal  Inspiration 
stand  without  these  supports?  Looking  at  the  doc- 
trine of  inspiration  from  the  point  of  view  of  textual 
criticism,  we  see  at  once  that  there  can  be  no  inspira- 
tion of  the  written  letters  or  uttered  sounds  of  our  pres- 
ent Hebrew  text,  for  these  are  transliterations  of  the 
originals  which  have  been  lost,  and  the  sounds  are  uncer- 
tain, and  while  there  is  a  general  correspondence  of 
these  letters  and  sounds  so  that  they  give  us  essentially 
the  original,  they  do  not  give  us  exactly  the  original. 
The  inspiration  must  therefore  lie  back  of  the  written 
letters  and  the  uttered  sounds  and  be  sought  in  that 
which  is  common  to  the  old  characters  and  the  new. 


DiUmann,  Bibeltext.  A.  T.,  Herzog,  II.  Aufl.,  II.,  p.  383. 


THE  TEXT  OF  THE  BIBLE.  I57 

the  utterance  of  the  voice  and  the  constructions  of  the 
pen,  namely,  in  the  concepts,  the  sense  and  meaning 
that  they  convey : 

"  All  language  or  writing  is  but  the  vessel,  the  symbol,  or  declara- 
tion of  the  rule,  not  the  rule  itself.  It  is  a  certain  form  or  means  by 
which  the  divine  truth  cometh  unto  us,  as  things  are  contained  in 
words,  and  because  the  doctrine  and  matter  of  the  text  is  not  made 
unto  one  but  by  words  and  a  language  which  I  understand  ;  there- 
fore I  say,  the  Scripture  in  English  is  the  rule  and  ground  of  my 
faith,  and  whereupon  I  relying  have  not  a  humane,  but  a  divine 
authority  for  my  faith."* 

For  the  divine  Word  was  not  meant  for  the  Hebrew 
and  Greek  nations  alone,  or  for  Hebrew  and  Greek 
scholars,  but  for  all  nations  and  the  people  of  God. 
It  is  given  to  the  world  in  a  great  variety  of  languages 
with  a  great  variety  of  letters  and  sounds,  so  that  the 
sacred  truth  approaches  each  one  in  his  native  tongue 
in  an  appropriate  relation  to  his  understanding,  just  as 
at  Pentecost  the  same  Divine  Spirit  distributed  Himself 
in  cloven  tongues  of  fire  upon  a  large  number  of  differ- 
ent persons.  Thus  every  faithful  translation  as  an  in- 
strument conveys  the  divine  Word  to  those  who  read 
or  hear  it : 

"  For  it  is  not  the  shell  of  the  words,  but  the  kernel  of  the  matter 
which  commends  itself  to  the  consciences  of  men,  and  that  is  the 
same  in  all  languages.  The  Scriptures  in  English,  no  less  than  in 
Hebrew  or  Greek,  display  its  lustre  and  exert  its  power  and  discover 
the  character  of  its  diWne  original."  t 

This  is  shown  by  the  process  of  translation  itself. 
The  translator  does  not  tran.sliterate  the  letters  and  syl- 
lables, transmute  sounds,  give  word  for  word,  transfer 


*  Lyford,  P/ain  Jlfan's  Sense  Exercised,  etc.,  p.  49, 

t  Matthew  Poole,  Blow  at  tlie  Root,  London,  1679,  p.  234. 


158  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

foreign  words  and  idioms,  but  he  ascertains  the  sense, 
the  idea,  and  then  gives  expression  to  the  idea,  the  sense, 
in  the  most  appropriate  way.  It  is  admitted  that  close, 
literal  translations  are  bad,  misleading,  worse  than  para- 
phrases. The  Midras/i  method  of  Ezra  is  far  preferable, 
to  give  the  sense  to  the  people  without  the  pedantry 
and  subtilties  of  scholarship.     As  another  Puritan  says  : 

"  Now,  what  shall  a  poor  unlearned  Christian  do,  if  he  hath  noth-  . 
ing  to  rest  his  poore  soul  on  ?  The  originals  he  understands  not ;  if 
he  did,  the  first  copies  are  not  to  be  had ;  he  cannot  tell  whether  the 
Hebrew  or  Greek  copies  be  the  right  Hebrew  or  the  right  Greek,  or 
that  which  is  said  to  be  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  or  Greek,  but 
as  men  tell  us,  who  are  not  prophets  and  may  mistake.  Besides,  the 
transcribers  were  men  and  might  err.  These  considerations  let  in 
Atheisme  like  a  flood."  * 

It  is  a  merciful  providence  that  divine  inspiration  is 
not  confined  to  particular  words  and  phrases  and  "gram- 
matical, logical,  or  rhetorical  constructions ;  and  that 
the  same  divine  truth  may  be  presented  in  a  variety  of 
synonymous  words  and  phrases  and  sentences.  It  is 
the  method  of  divine  revelation  to  give  the  same  laws, 
doctrines,  narratives,  expressions  of  emotion,  and  proph- 
ecies in  great  variety  of  forms,  none  of  which  are  ade- 
quate to  convey  the  divine  idea,  but  in  their  combination 
it  is  presented  from  all  those  varied  points  of  view  that 
a  rich,  naturcd  language  affords,  in  order  that  the  mind 
and  heart  may  grasp  the  idea  itself,  appropriate  and 
reproduce  it  in  other  forms  of  language,  and  in  the 
motives,  principles,  and  habits  of  every-day  life.  The 
external  word,  written  or  spoken,  is  purely  instrumental; 
conveying  divine  truth  to  the  soul  of  man,  as  the  eye; 
and  the  ear  are  instrumental  senses  for  its  appropriation 


*  Rich.  Capel,  Remains^  London,  1658. 


THE  TEXT  OF  THE  BIBLE.  159 

by  the  soul.     It  does  not  work  ex  opere  operato  by  any 
mechanical  or  magical  power. 

As  the  Lutherans  tend  to  lay  the  stress  upon  the 
sacraments,  in  their  external  operation,  and  the  Angli- 
cans upon  the  external  organization  of  the  church,  so 
the  Reformed  church  has  ever  been  in  peril  of  laying 
the  stress  on  the  letter,  the  external  operation  of  the 
Word  of  God.  The  Protestant  principle  struggles 
against  this  confounding  of  the  means  of  grace  with 
the  divine  grace  itself,  this  identification  of  the  instru- 
ment and  the  divine  agent,  in  order  therefore  to  their 
proper  discrimination.  This  is  the  problem,  left  unsolved 
by  the  Reformation,  in  which  the  separate  churches  of 
Protestantism  have  been  working,  and  which  demands 
a  solution  from  the  church  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Here  the  most  radical  question  is,  that  of  the  divine 
Word  and  its  relation  to  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
This  solved,  all  the  other  questions  will  be  solved. 
Herein  the  churches  of  the  Reformation  may  be  har- 
monized. The  Reformed  churches  have  a  peculiar  call 
to  grapple  bravely  with  the  problem.  Its  solution  can 
come  only  from  a  further  working  out  of  the  critical 
principles  of  the  Reformation  and  Puritanism,  not  by 
logical  deduction  from  the  creeds  and  scholastic  dogmas 
alone,  but  by  a  careful  induction  of  the  facts  from  the 
Scriptures  themselves,  a  comparison  of  these  results  with 
those  obtained  by  the  dogmatic  process,  in  order  that 
the  dogmatic  and  critical  methods  may  act  and  react 
upon  one  another,  to  that  most  desired  conclusion.  But 
both  must  maintain  the  fundamental  distinction  be- 
tween the  external  and  the  internal  word,  so  well  stated 
by  John  Waliis,  one  of  the  clerks  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly : 

"  The  Scriptures  in  themselves  are  a  Lanthorn  rather  than  a  Light ; 


160  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

they  shine,  indeed,  but  it  is  alieno  lumine ;  it  is  not  their  own,  but  a 
borrowed  light.  It  is  God  which  is  the  true  light  that  shines  to  us 
in  the  Scriptures ;  and  they  have  no  other  light  in  them,  but  as  they 
represent  to  us  somewhat  of  God,  and  as  they  exhibit  and  hold  forth 
God  to  us,  who  is  the  true  light  that  '  enlighteneth  every  man  that 
comes  into  the  world.'  It  is  a  light,  then,  as  it  represents  God  unto 
us,  who  is  the  original  light.  It  transmits  some  rays  ;  some  beams 
of  the  divine  nature.;  but  they  are  refracted,  or  else  we  should  not 
be  able  to  behold  them.  They  lose  much  of  their  original  lustre  by 
passing  through  this  medium,  and  appear  not  so  glorious  to  us  as 
they  are  in  themselves.  They  represent  God's  simplicity  obliquated 
and  refracted,  by  reason  of  many  inadequate  conceptions  ;  God  con- 
descending to  the  weakness  of  our  capacity  to  speak  to  us  in  our 
own  dialect."* 

The  Scriptures  are  lamps,  vessels  of  the  most  holy 
character,  but  no  less  vessels  of  the  divine  grace  than 
were  the  apostles  and  prophets  who  spake  and  wrote 
them.  As  vessels  they  have  come  into  material  contact 
with  the  forces  of  this  world,  with  human  weakness,  ig- 
norance, prejudice,  and  folly  ;  their  forms  have  been 
modified  in  the  course  of  the  generations,  but  their 
divine  contents  remain  unchanged.  We  will  never  be 
able  to  attain  the  sacred  writings  in  the  original  letters 
and  sounds  and  forms  in  which  they  gladdened  the  eyes 
of  those  who  first  saw  them,  and  rejoiced  the  hearts  of 
those  who  first  heard  fhem.  If  the  external  words  of 
these  originals  were  inspired,  it  does  not  profit  us.  We 
are  cut  off  from  them  forever.  Interposed  between  us 
and  them  is  the  tradition  of  centuries  sjnd  even  millen- 
niums. Doubtless  by  God's  "  singular  care  and  provi- 
dence they  have  been  kept  pure  in  all  ages,  and  are 
therefore  authentical."  f  Doubtless  throughout  the 
whole  work  of  the  authors  **  the  Holy  Spirit  was  pres- 
ent, causing  His  energies  to  flow  into  the  spontaneous 


*  Sermons,  Lond.,  1791,  pp.  127-8.  +  Con/.  0/ Faith,  I.,  viii. 


THE  TEXT  OF  THE  BIBLE,  101 

exercises  of  the  writers'  faculties,  elevating  and  directing 
where  need  be,  and  everywhere  securing  the  errorless 
expression  in  language  of  the  thought  designed  by- 
God  ";  *  but  we  cannot  in  the  symboHcal  or  historical  use 
of  the  term  call  this  providential  care  of  His  Word  or 
superintendence  over  its  external  production — inspira- 
tion. Such  providential  care  and  superintendence  is  not 
different  in  kind  with  regard  to  the  Word  of  God,  the 
visible  church  of  God,  or  the  forms  of  the  sacraments. 
Inspiration  lies  back  of  the  external  letter — it  is  that 
which  gives  the  word  its  efficacy,  it  is  the  divine  afflatus 
which  enlightened  and  guided  holy  men  to  apprehend  i 
the  truth  of  God  in  its  appropriate  forms ;  assured 
them  of  their  possession  of  it  ;  and  called  and  enabled 
them  to  make  it  known  to  the  church  by  voice  and  pen. 
This  made  their  persons  holy,  their  utterances  holy, 
their  writings  holy,  but  only  as  the  instruments,  not  as 
the  holy  thing  itself.  The  divine  Logos  that  is  the 
sum  and  substance  of  the  Scripture,  the  holy  of  holies, 
whence  the  Spirit  of  God  goes  forth  through  the  holy 
place  of  the  circumstantial  sense  of  type  and  symbol, 
and  literary  representation,  into  the  outer  court  of  the 
words  and  sentences,  through  them  to  enter  by  the  ear 
and  eye  into  the  hearts  of  men  with  enlightening,  sanc- 
tifying, and  saving  power : 

"  Inspiration  is  more  than  superintending  guidance,  for  that  ex- 
presses but  an  external  relation  between  the  Spirit  and  writer.  But 
Inspiration  is  an  influence  within  the  soul,  divine  and  supernatural, 
working  through  all  the  writers  in  one  organizing  method,  making 
of  the  many  one,  by  all  one  book,  the  Book  of  God,  the  Book  for 
man,  divine  and  human  in  all  its  parts  ;  having  the  same  relation  to 
all  other  books  that  the  Person  of  the  Son  of  God  has  to  all  other 


*  A.  A.  Hodge  and  B.  B.  Waxfield,  art.  Inspiration^  Presbyterian  Review, 
II ,  231. 


162  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

men.  and  that  the  church  of  the  living  God  has  to  all  other  institu- 
tions." * 

True  criticism  never  disregards  the  letter,  but  rever- 
ently and  tenderly  handles  every  letter  and  syllable  of 
the  Word  of  God,  striving  to  purify  it  from  all  dross, 
brushing  away  the  dust  of  tradition  and  guarding  it  from 
the  ignorant  and  profane.  But  it  is  with  no  supersti- 
tious dread  of  magical  virtue  or  virus  in  it,  or  anxious 
fears  lest  it  should  dissolve  in  the  hands,  but  with  an 
assured  trust  that  it  is  the  tabernacle  of  God,  through 
whose  external  courts  there  is  an  approach  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  himself.  *'  Bibliolatry  clings  to  the  letter  ;  spirit- 
uality in  the  letter  finds  the  spirit  and  does  not  disown 
the  letter  which  guided  to  the  spirit."  f 

Such  criticism  has  accomplished  great  things  for  the 
New  Testament  text.  It  will  do  even  more  for  the  Old 
Testament  so  soon  as  the  old  superstitious  reverence  for 
Massoretic  tradition  and  servitude  to  the  Jews  has  been 
laid  aside  by  Christian  scholars.  Critical  theories  first 
come  into  conflict  with  the  church  doctrine  of  inspira- 
tion when  they  deny  the  inspiration  of  the  truth  and 
facts  of  Scripture  ;  when  they  superadd  another  author- 
itative and  predominant  test,  whether  as  the  reason,  the 
conscience,  or  the  religious  feeling.  But  this  is  to  go 
beyond  the  sphere  of  evangelical  criticism  and  enter  into 
the  fields  of  rationalistic,  ethical,  or  mystical  criticism. 
Evangelical  criticism  conflicts  only  with  false  views  of 
inspiration.  It  disturbs  the  inspiration  of  versions,  the 
inspiration  of  the  Massoretic  text,  the  inspiration  of 
particular  letters,  syllables,"  and  external  words  and  ex- 
pressions ;  and  truly  all  those  who  rest  upon  these  exter- 
nal things  ought  to  be  disturbed  and  driven  from  the 


*  H.  B.  Smith,  Sermon  on  Inspiration,  1855,  p.  27.  t  In  /.  c,  p.  361 


THE  TEXT  OF  THE  BIBLE.  163 

letter  to  the  spirit,  from  clinging  to  the  outer  walls,  to 
seek  Him  who  is  the  sum  and  substance,  the  Master  and 
the  King  of  the  Scriptures. 

Here  the  people  and  critics  are  agreed,  who  can  doubt 

it?  ■ 

"As  if  the  vast  multitude  of  Christian  souls  who  really  used  it  did 
not  believe  in  a  Bible,  which  in  its  parts  is  vital  and  saving  as  well 
as  in  the  whole,  which  is  superior  in  its  central  lessons  to  all  the 
errors  of  editors  and  translators,  and  which  can  even  convey  eternal 
life  by  its  reproduction  in  sermons,  however  weak,  that  are  faithful 
to  its  spirit,  though  they  do  not  literally  g^ve  back  one  of  its  sen- 
tences." * 

As  Tyndale,  our  great  English  reformer,  says  : 

"  The  Scriptures  spring  out  of  God  and  flow  unto  Christ,  and 
were  given  to  lead  us  to  Christ.  Thou  must  therefore  go  along  by 
the  Scripture,  as  by  a  line,  until  thou  come  to  Christ  who  is  the 
ways  end  and  resting-place."  t  "  For  though  the  Scripture  be  an 
outward  instrument  and  the  preacher  also  to  move  men  to  believe. 
Yet  the  chief  and  principal  cause  why  a  man  believeth,  or  believeth 
not,  is  within  ;  that  is,  the  Spirit  of  God  leadeth  His  children  to 
believe."  J 


*  Prin.  Cairns,  Unbelief  in  \%th  Century,  p.  152. 

t  Works^  Parker  Series,  I.,  p.  317.  J  Works,  III.,  p.  139. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM. 

We  have  shown  in  our  previous  chapters  that  the  Ref- 
ormation was  a  great  critical  revival ;  that  evangelical 
biblical  criticism  was  based  on  the  formal  principle  of 
Protestantism,  the  divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures 
over  against  ecclesiastical  tradition ;  that  the  voice  of 
God  Himself,  speaking  to  His  people  through  His  Word, 
is  the  great  evangelical  critrcal  test ;  that  the  reformers 
appHed  this  test  to  the  traditional  theory  of  the  canon 
and  eliminated  the  apocryphal  books  therefrom ;  that 
they  applied  it  to  the  received  versions,  and,  rejecting 
the  inspiration  and  authority  of  the  Septuagint  and  Vul- 
gate versions,  resorted  to  the  original  Greek  and  Hebrew 
texts ;  that  they  applied  it  to  the  Massoretic  traditional, 
pointing  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and,  rejecting  it  as 
uninspired,  resorted  to  the  divine  original  unpointed 
text ;  that  they  applied  it  to  the  traditional  manifold 
sense  and  allegorical  method  of  interpretation,  and,  re- 
jecting these,  followed  the  plain  grammatical  sense,  in- 
terpreting difficult  and  obscure  passages  by  the  mind  of 
the  Spirit  in  passages  that  are  plain  and  undisputed. 

We  have  also  described  the  second  critical  revival  under 
the  lead  of  Cappellus  and  Walton,  and  their  conflict  with 
the  Protestant  -scholastics  who  had  reacted  from  the  crit- 
ical principles  of .  the  Reformation  into  a  reliance  upon 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  165 

rabbinical  tradition.  We  have  shown  that  the  Puritan 
divines  still  held  the  position  of  the  reformers,  and  were 
not  in  accord  with  the  scholastics.  We  have  now  to 
trace  a  third  critical  revival  which  began  toward  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century  in  the  investigations  of 
the  poetic  and  literary  features  of  the  Old  Testament  by 
Bishop  Lowth  in  England  and  the  poet  Herder  in  Ger- 
many, and  of  the  structure  of  Genesis  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  physician  Astruc.  The  first  critical  revival  had 
been  mainly  devoted  to  the  canon  of  Scripture,  its  au- 
thority and  interpretation.  The  second  critical  revival 
had  been  chiefly  with  regard  to  the  original  texts  and 
versions.  The  third  critical  revival  now  gave  attention 
to  the  investigation  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  as  literature. 

I.   THE   HIGHER    CRITICISM    IN    THE    SIXTEENTH    AND 
SEVENTEENTH   CENTURIES. 

Little  attention  had  been  given  to  theJiterary  features 
of  the  Bible  in  the  sixteenth  century.  How  the  reformers 
would  have  met  these  questions  we  may  infer  from  their 
freedom  with  regard  to  traditional  views  in  the  few  cases 
in  which  they  expressed  themselves.  Luther  denied  the 
Apocalypse  to  John  and  Ecclesiastes  to  Solomon.  He 
maintained  that  the  epistle  of  James  was  not  an  apostolic 
writing.  He  regarded  Jude  as  an  extract  from  2d  Peter, 
and  said,  What  matters  it  if  Moses  should  not  himself 
have  written  the  Pentateuch?*  He  thought  the  epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  was  written  by  a  disciple  of  the  apostle 
Paul,  who  was  a  learned  man,  and  made  the  epistle  as  a 
sort  of  a  composite  piece  in  which  there  are  some  things 
hard  to  be  reconciled  with  the  Gospel.    Calvin  denied  the 


*  See  DiesteJ,  Gesch.  des  Allen  Test,  in  der  christliclten  Kirche,  1869,  p.  250, 
seq.;  and  Vorreden  in  Walch  edit,  of  Luther's  Werken,  XIV.,  pp.  35,  146-153  ; 
Tischreden,  I.,  p.  28. 


IQQ  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Pauline  authorship  of  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  and 
doubted  the  Petrine  authorship  of  2d  Peter.  He  taught 
that  Ezra  or  some  one  else  edited  the  Psalter  and  made 
the  first  Psalm  an  introduction  to  the  collection,  not  hes- 
itating to  oppose  the  traditional  view  that  David  was 
the  author  or  editor  of  the  entire  Psalter.  He  also  re- 
garded Ezra  as  the  author  of  the  prophecy  of  Malachi 
— Malachi   being^  his   surname.     He  furthermore   con- 

o 

structed,  after  the  model  of  a  harmony  of  the  gospels,  a 
harmony  of  the  pentateuchal  legislation  about  the  Ten 
Commandments  as  a  centre,  holding  that  all  the  rest  of 
the  commandments  were  mere  "appendages,  \uhich  add 
not  the  smallest  completeness  to  the  Law."  * 

Zwingli,  CEcolampadius,  and  other  reformers  took 
similar  positions.  These  questions  of  authorship  and 
date  troubled  the  reformers  but  little ;  they  had  to  bat- 
tle against  the  Vulgate  for  the  original  text  arid  popular 
versions,  and  for  a  simple  grammatical  exegesis  over 
against  traditional  authority  and  the  manifold  sense. 
Hence  it  is  that  on  these  literary  questions  the  symbols 
of  the  Reformation  take  no  position  whatever,  except  to 
lay  stress  upon  the  sublimity  of  the  style,  the  unity  and 
harmony  of  Scripture,  and  the  internal  evidence  of  its 
inspiration  and  authority.     Calvin  sets  the  example  in 


*  "  Therefore,  God  protests  that  He  never  enjoined  anything  with  respect  to 
sacrifices ;  and  He  pronounces  all  external  rites  but  vain  and  trifling  if  the  very 
least  value  be  assigned  to  them  aptart  from  the  Ten  Commandments.  Whence 
we  more  certainly  arrive  at  the  conclusion  to  which  I  have  adverted,  viz. :  that 
they  are  not,  to  speak  correctly,  of  the  substance  of  the  law,  nor  avail  of  them- 
selves in  the  worship  of  God,  nor  are  required  by  the  Lawgiver  himself  as  nec- 
essary, or  even  as  useful,  unless  they  sink  into  this  inferior  position.  In  fine, 
they  are  appendages  which  add  not  the  smallest  completeness  to  the  Law,  but 
whose  object  is  to  retain  the  pious  in  the  spiritual  worship  of  God,  which  con- 
sists of  Faith  and  Repentance,  of  Praises  whereby  their  gratitude  is  proclaimed, 
and  even  of  the  endurance  of  the  cross  "  \rre/ace  to  Harmony  of  the  Four  Last 
Books  of  the  Pentateuch\ 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  167 

this  particular  in  his  Institutes,  and  is  followed  by- 
Thomas  Cartwright,  Archbishop  Usher,  and  other  Cal- 
vinists. 

The  Westminster  Confession  is  in  entire  accord  with 
the  other  Reformed  confessions  and  the  faith  of  the 
Reformation.  It  expresses  a  devout  admiration  and 
profound  reverence  for  the  holy  majestic  character  and 
style  of  the  Divine  Word,  but  does  not  define  the  human 
authors  and  dates  of  the  various  writings.  As  Prof.  A. 
F.  Mitchell,  of  St.  Andrew's,  well  states : 

"  Anj'  one  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  compare  their  list  of  the 
canonical  books  with  that  given  in  the  Belgian  Confession  or  the 
Irish  articles,  may  satisfy  himself  that  they  held  with  Dr.  Jameson 
that  the  authority  of  these  books  does  not  depend  on  the  fact  whether 
this  prophet  or  that  wrote  a  particular  book  or  parts  of  a  book, 
whether  a  certain  portion  was  derived  from  the  Elohist  or  the  Jeho- 
vist,  whether  Moses  wrote  the  close  of  Deuteronomy,  Solomon  was 
the  author  of  Ecclesiastes,  or  Paul  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
but  in  the  fact  that  a  prophet,  an  inspired  man,  wrote  them,  and  that 
they  bear  the  stamp  an  J  impress  of  a  divine  origin."  * 

And  Matthew  Poole,  the  great  Presbyterian  critic  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  quotes  with  approval  the  fol- 
lowing from  Melchior  Canus : 

"  It  is  not  much  material  to  the  Catholick  Faith  that  any  book  was 
written  by  this  or  that  author,  so  long  as  the  Spirit  of  God  is  be- 
lieved to  be  the  author  of  it ;  which  Gregory  delivers  and  explains  : 
For  it  matters  not  with  what  pen  the  King  writes  his  letter,  if  it  be 
true  that  he  writ  it"  t 

Andrew  Rivetus,  one  of  the  chief  Reformed  divines 


*  Minutes  of  the  Sessions  of  the  Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines,  Nov., 
1644— Mch.,  1649,  edited  by  A.  F.  Mitchell  and  J.  Struthers.  Edin.,  1874,  p. 
xlix. 

t  Blow  at  the  Root,  4th  ed.,  1671,  p.  228. 


168  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

of  the  continent,*  after  discussing  the  various  views  of 
the  authorship  of  the  Psalms,  says : 

"  This  only  is  to  be  held  as  certain,  whether  David  or  Moses  or  any 
other  composed  the  psalms,  they  themselves  were  as  pens,  but  the 
Holy  Spirit  wrote  through  them  :  But  it  is  not  necessary  to  trouble 
ourselves  about  the  pen  when  the  true  author  is  established." 

In  his  Introduction  to  the  sacred  Scriptures,t  he  en- 
ters into  no  discussion  of  the  literary  questions.  This 
omission  makes  it  clear  that  these  questions  did  not 
concern  the  men  of  his  times.  Until  toward  the  close 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  those  who,  in  the  brief  pre- 
liminary words  to  their  commentaries  on  the  different 
books  of  Scripture,  took  the  trouble  to  mention  the  au- 
thors and  dates  of  writings,  either  followed  the  tradition- 
al views  without  criticism  or  deviated  from  them  in  en- 
tire unconsciousness  of  giving  offence  to  the  orthodox 
faith.  This  faith  was  firmly  fixed  on  the  divine  author 
of  Scripture,  and  they  felt  little  concern  for  the  human 
authors  employed.  One  looks  in  vain  in  the  commen- 
taries of  this  period  for  a  critical  discussion  of  literary 
questions.:}: 


*  In  his  Prolog,  to  his  Com.  on  tke  Psalms. 

f  Isagoge  seu  Introductio  generalis  ad  scripturam  sacram,  1627. 

X  As  specimens  we  would  present  the  following  from  the  Assembly's  Annota- 
tions, (i)  Francis  Taylor  on  yob :  "  Though  most  excellent  and  glorious 
things  be  contained  in  it,  yet  they  seem  to  partake  the  same  portion  with  their 
subject ;  being  (as  his  prosperity  was)  clouded  often  with  much  darkness  and  ob- 
scurity, and  that  not  only  in  those  things  which  are  of  lesse  moment  and  edifica- 
tion (viz.  :  the  Time  and  Place  and  Penman,  etc.),  but  in  points  of  higher  doc- 
trine and  concernment.  The  Book  is  observed  to  be  a  sort  of  holy  poem,  but 
yet  not  a  Fable  ;  and,  though  we  cannot  expressly  conclude  when  or  by  whom  it 
was  written,  though  our  maps  cannot  show  us  what  Uz  was,  or  where  situate, 
yet  cannot  this  Scripture  of  Job  be  rejected  until  Atheisme  grow  as  desperate  as 
his  wife  was,  and  resolve  with  her  to  curse  God  and  dye."  The  traditional 
view  that  Moses  wrote  Job  is  simply  abandoned  and  the  authorship  left  unknown. 
(2)  Casaubon,  Pre/ace  to  the  Psalms  :  '*  The  author  of  this  book  (the  immedi- 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  1(59 

The  literary  questions  opened  by  Lowth,  Herder,  and 
Astruc  were  essentially  new  questions.  The  revived  at- 
tention to  classical  and  oriental  history  and  literature 
carried  with  it  a  fresh  study  of  Hebrew  history  and 
literature.  The  battle  of  the  books  waged  between 
Bentley  and  Boyle,  which  was  decided  in  the  interests 
of  literary  criticism  by  the  masterpiece  of  Bentley,*  was 
the  prelude  of  a  struggle  over  all  the  literary  monu- 
ments of  antiquity,  in  which  the  spurious  was  to  be  sep- 
arated from  the  genuine.  It  was  indispensable  that  the 
whole  Greek  and  Latin  and  Hebrew  literatures  should 
pass  through  the  fires  of  this  literary  and  historical  crit- 
icism, which  soon  received  the  name  of  Higher  Criticism. 
As  Eichhorn  says : 

ate  and  secondary,  we  mean,  besides  the  orig^inal  and  general  of  all  true  Script- 
ure, the  Holy  Ghost  ....),  though  named  in  some  other  places  of  Scripture 
David,  as  Luke  xx.  42,  and  elsewhere,  is  not  here  in  the  title  of  the  book  ex- 
pressed. The  truth  is,  they  are  not  all  David's  Psalms,  some  having  been  made 
before  and  some  long  after  him,  as  shall  be  shown  in  due  place."  The  tradi- 
tional view  as  to  the  Davidic  authorship  of  the  Psalter  is  abandoned  without  hes- 
itation or  apology.  (3)  Francis  Taylor,  Preface  to  the  Proverbs :  "That  Solo- 
mon is  the  author  of  this  book  of  Proverbs  in  general  is  generally  acknowledged  ; 
but  the  author,  as  David  of  the  Psalms,  not  because  all  made  by  him,  but  be- 
cause either  the  maker  of  a  good  part,  or  collector  and  approver  of  the  rest.  It 
is  not  to  be  doubted  but  that  many  of  these  Proverbs  and  sentences  were  known 

and  used  long  before  Solomon Of  them  that  were  collected  by  others  as 

Solomon's,  but  long  since  his  death,  from  chap,  xxv.-ixx.,  and  then  of  those  Uiat 

bear  Agur's  name,  xxx.,  and  Lemuel's  xxxi If  not  all  Solomon's,  then, 

but  partly  his  and  partly  collected  by  him  and  partly  by  others  at  several  times, 
no  wonder  if  diverse  things,  with  litUe  or  no  alteration,  be  often  repeated." 

Joseph  Mede  {Works,  II.,  pp.  963,  1022,  London,  1664), "Henry  Hammond 
{Parafhrase  and  Annotations  upon  the  New  Testament,  London,  1871,  p.  135), 
Kidder  {Demonstration  of  t lie  Messias,  London,  1726,  II.,  p.  76),  and  others 
denied  the  integrity  of  Zechariah,  and,  on  the  ground  of  Matthew  xxvii.  9,  as- 
cribed the  last  six  chapters  to  Jeremiah.  The  Mosaic  authorship  of  the  Penta- 
teuch was  questioned  by  Carlstadt  {De  Script.  Canon,  1521,  §  85),  who  left  the 
author  undetermined.  The  Roman  Catholic  scholar,  Masius  {Com.  in  yosh., 
1574,  Praef,  p.  2,  and  chap.  x.  13 ;  xix.  47  ;  Critica  Sacr.,  II.,  p.  1892,  London, 
166c)  and  the  British  philosopher,  Hobbes  {Leviat/ian,  1651  ;  part  iii.,  c  xxziii.), 
distinguished  between  Mosaic  originals  and  our  present  Pentateuch. 

*  Epistles  of  Phalaris  and  Fables  of  jEsop,  1699  ;  see  Chap.  IV.,  p.  93. 

8 


170  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

"  Already  long  ago  scholars  have  sought  to  determine  the  age  of 
anonymous  Greek  and  Roman  writings  now  from  their  contents, 
and  then  since  these  are  often  insufficient  for  an  investigation  of  this 
kind,  from  their  language.  They  have  also  by  the  same  means  sep- 
arated from  ancient  works  pieces  of  later  origin,  which,  by  accidental 
circumstances,  have  become  mingled  with  the  ancient  pieces.  And 
not  until  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament  have  been  subjected  to 
the  same  test  can  any  one  assert  with  confidence  that  the  sections 
of  a  book  all  belong  in  reality  to  the  author  whose  name  is  prefixed."  ♦ 

II.  CRITICISM  OF  The  traditional  theories. 

The  traditional  views  of  the  Old  Testament  literature, 
as  fixed  in  the  Talmud  and  stated  in  the  Christian 
fathers,  came  down  as  a  body  of  lore  to  be  investigated 
and  tested  by  the  principles  of  this  Higher  Criticism. 
There  were  four  ways  of  meeting  the  issue  :  (i)  By  at- 
tacking the  traditional  theories  with  the  weapons  of  the 
higher  criticism  and  testing  them  at  all  points,  dealing 
with  the  Scriptures  as  with  all  other  writings  of  antiqui- 
ty. (2)  By  defending  the  traditional  theories  as  the  es- 
tablished faith  of  the  Church  on  the  ground  of  the  au- 
thority of  tradition,  as  Buxtorf  and  Owen  had  defended 
the  inspiration  of  the  Hebrew  vowel  points  against  Cap- 
pellus  and  Walton.  (3)  By  ignoring  these  questions  as 
matters  of  scholarship  and  not  of  faith,  and  resting  on 
the  divine  authority  of  the  writings  themselves.  In 
point  of  fact,  these  three  methods  were  pursued,  and 
three  parties*  ranged  themselves  in  line  to  meet  the 
issues;  the  deistic  or  rationalistic,  the  traditional  or 
scholastic,  the  pietistic  or  mystical,  and  the  battle  of  the 
ages  between  these  tendencies  was  renewed  on  this  line- 
There  was  a  fourth  and  better  way  which  few  pursued. 
The  evangelical  spirit  would  work  in  the  line  of  the 


♦  Einleitf  iii,,  p.  67. 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  171 

Reformation  and  apply  the  critical  test  established  by 
the  reformers  and  (i)  inquire  what  the  Scriptures  teach 
about  themselves,  and  separate  this  divine  authority 
from  all  other  authority ;  (2)  apply  the  principles  of  the 
higher  criticism  to  decide  questions  not  decided  by  divine 
authority ;  (3)  use  tradition,  in  order  to  determine  as  far 
as  possible  questions  not  settled  by  the  previous  methods. 
We  are  not  surprised  that  this  method  of  criticism* 
has  been  objected  to  from  the  three  points  of  view  indi- 
cated above.  We  shall  notice  only  the  'objection  that 
it  "  begs  the  whole  question." — "  It  is  the  divine  author- 
ity of  Scripture  that  constitutes  the  question  in  de- 
bate."f  This  objection  arises  from  a  misapprehension 
of  the  real  state  of  the  question.  The  questions  of 
the  higher  criticism  are  questions  of  integrity,  au- 
thenticity, credibility,  and  literary  form  of  the  vari- 
ous writings  that  constitute  the  Bible.  The  inspira- 
tion and  authority  of  Scripture  may  be  concerned  with 
the  results  of  the  higher  criticism,  but  they  are  ques- 
tions with  which  higher  criticism  itself  has  nothing  to 
do.  The  authority  and  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures 
are  properly  considered  in  connection  with  biblical  ca- 
nonics,  where  they  were  discussed  by  the  reformers  and 
have  been  discussed  by  us.:{:  If  the  higher  criticism 
should  result  in  showing  that  any  of  the  sacred  books 
have  characteristics  that  are  inconsistent  with  the  doc- 
trine of  the  inspiration  and  authority  of  the  Scriptures, 
we  should  have  to  inquire  first  whether  the  conflict  is 
with  certain  theories  of  inspiration  or  the  biblical  and 


*  See  author's  article  A  Critical  Study  0/  the  History  of  the  Higher  Criti- 
cistn,  with  Special  Reference  to  the  Pentateuch,  in  Presbyterian  Review,  IV.,  p. 
74,  seq. 

t  F.  L.  Patton,  article  Pentateuchal  Criticism,  in  Presbyterian  Review,  IV., 
p.  353.  seq- 

X  In  Chap.  V. 


172  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

symbolical  doctrines  of  inspiration.  We  have  found 
that  the  results  of  the  textual  criticism  are  in  conflict 
with  verbal  inspiration,*  but  not  with  the  symbolical 
doctrine  of  inspiration.  If  it  should  be  found  that  the 
results  of  the  higher  criticism  are  in  conflict  with  other 
school  doctrines  of  inspiration,  it  is  important  that  these 
doctrines  should  be  changed  as  soon  as  possible  to  accord 
with  these  results.  If  it  should  be  found  that  they  are  in 
conflict  with  the  biblical  or  symbolical  doctrine,  it  would 
place  the  criticf  in  an  embarrassing  situation,  where  he 
would  be  obliged  either  to  reject  the  authority  of  the 
Scriptures  or  his  critical  results.  Rationalistic  critics 
have  chosen  the  former  alternative.  This  has  been  due, 
in  our  judgment,  to  the  rationalism  with  which  they 
began  and  carried  on  their  criticism  and  not  to  the  re- 
sults of  criticism  itself.  The  critic,  as,  indeed,  every 
thinker,  must  confront  this  dread  alternative.  It  Is  one 
of  the  perils  of  scholarship.  We  can  only  express  our 
own  convictions  that  while  the  traditional  teachings  of 
the  schools  will  have  to  be  modified  to  a  considerable 
extent  in  the  several  departments  of  biblical  study,  there 
has  nothing  been  established  by  modern  critical  work 
that  will  at  all  disturb  the  statements  of  the  symbols  of 
the  Reformation  with  reference  to  the  authority  of  the 
Word  of  God. 

The  method  we  have  given  is  a  method  of  evangelical 
criticism  and  not  a  method  of  proving  inspiration. 
When,  therefore,  we  state  that  the  evangelical  critic  must 
first  "  inquire  what  the  Scriptures  teach  about  them- 
selves and  separate  this  divine  authority  from  all  other 
authority,"  we  might  omit  the  adjectives  "  divine  "  and 
"  evangelical "   and    then   the   statement   would    apply 


*  Chap.  VL,  p.  156,  sey. 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  173 

equally  well  to  all  critics.  They  set  out  by  finding  what 
the  biblical  writings  have  to  say  about  themselves.  Evan- 
gelical critics  are  satisfied  with  this.  Rationalistic  critics 
are  not.  Here,  after  ascertaining  what  the  Scriptures 
teach,  the  critics  divide  in  accordance  with  their  precon- 
ceptions. In  the  conflict  of  opinion,  evangelical  critics 
will  waive  their  opinions  as  to  the  divine  authority  of 
this  testimony,  but  in  their  own  convictions,  critical 
work,  and  teachings  they  will  not  waive  them.  The 
second  step  of  the  evangelical  critic  is  to  "  apply  the 
principles  of  the  higher  criticism  to  determine  questions 
not  decided  by  divine  authority."  As  an  evangelical 
critic  this  will  be  his  method.  In  conflict  with  the  ra- 
tionalistic critics  he  will  not  hesitate  to  test  the  state- 
ments of  the  Scripture  about  themselves,  but  in  doing 
this  it  is  not  necessary,  nor  is  it  possible  for  him  to  di- 
vest himself  of  the  conviction  that  they  are  statements 
carrying  with  them  divine  authority. 

III.   THE   RABBINICAL   THEORIES. 

In  order  to  present  the  subject  in  its  historical  order, 
we  shall  state  the  traditional  views  as  they  came  down 
to  the  critics  at  the  close  of  the  17th  century. 

The  orthodox  rabbinical  theory  of  the  Old  Testament 
literature  is  contained  in  the  tract  Bada  BatJira  of  the 
Talmud.  This  tract  is  of  the  order  Nezikin  ;  and  is  found 
in  part  in  both  the  Babylonian  and  Jerusalem  Talmuds. 
These  Talmuds  differ  from  one  another  in  the  particular 
tracts  that  they  contain  and  in  the  matter  in  the  tracts, 
so  that  the  Babylonian  Talmud  is  four  times  greater 
than  that  of  Jerusalem.  Both  Talmuds  in  the  treatises 
and  tracts  are  composed  of  various  elements  or  layers 
which  are  discriminated  from  one  another  by  certain 
formulas  of  citation.     The  best  known  of  these  is  the 


1Y4  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Mishna  of  Rabbi  Jehuda.*  But  there  are  also  Be- 
rait  ha  and  Toseptha  and  Gemara  in  the  Talmud.  If  the 
Talmud  be  divided  into  Mishna  and  Gemara^  it  is  more 
proper  technically  to  attach  the  Beraitha  and  Toseptha 
to  the  Mishna  section,  for  the  Gemara  is  a  commentary 
not  on  the  Mishna  of  Rabbi  Jehuda  alone,  but  also  on 
the  Beraithoth,  which  it  cites.f 

The  relation  of  the  Beraitha  and  the  Toseptha  to  the 
MisJina  of  the  Rabbi  Jehuda  is  not  of  inferior  authority 
or  of  more  recent  origin.  Some  of  them  represent  a 
more  ancient  tradition  of  the  school  of  R.  Akiba.  They 
are  all  Mishnayoth.  But  the  collection  of  Rabbi  Jehuda 
is  the  Mishna,  by  eminence  as  the  first  collection,  and 
the  Beraithoth  give  other  Mishnayoth  not  embraced  in 
his  collection,  but  collected  by  others,  such  as  R.  Jan- 
nai,  R.  Chija,  Bar  Cappara,  etc4     The  Mishna  has  re- 


*  This  has  been  published  apart  in  various  editions,  e.  g.,  i  v.  folio,  Naples, 
1492 ;  Surenhusius,  6  v.  folio,  Amsterdam,  1698-1703  ;  Jost,  6  thle,  Berlin, 
1832-34 ;  Sittenfeld,  6  thle,  Berlin,  1863,  and  others. 

t  To  distingfuish  between  the  Mishna  of  Rabbi  Jehuda  and  all  the  other  ele- 
ments as  Gemara,  is  incorrect  and  misleading  unless  we  use  these  terms  in  a  purely 
formal  sense,  and  distinguish  in  the  Gevaais.  the  Mishnaic  elements  from  the 
commentary  of  the  Gemara  upon  them.  Thus  Emanuel  Deutsch  in  his  Liter- 
ary Remains  (p.  40):  "Jehuda  the  'Redactor'  had  excluded  all  but  the  best 
authenticated  traditions  as  well  as  all  discussion  and  exegesis,  unless  where  par- 
ticularly necessary.  The  vast  mass  of  these  materials  was  now  also  collected  as 
a  sort  of  Apocryphal  oral  code.  We  have  dating  a  few  generations  after  the 
Redaction  of  the  official  Mishita,  a  so-called  external  Mishna  {Beraitha) ;  further 
the  discussions  and  additions  belonging  by  rights  to  the  Mishna  caUed  Toseptha 
(Supplement) ;  and  flncdly,  the  exegesis  and  methodology  of  the  Halacha  {Si/ri, 
Si/ra,  Meckilta),  much  of  which  was  afterwards  introduced  into  the  Talmud." 
So  Levy  in  his  A'eu  Hebraisches  und  Chaldaisches  Worterbuch  (1 .  260),  defines  : 
"JS^tl"'"!!!  as  properly  that  which  is  outside  of  the  Canon  (we  must  supply 
i^rT'Di^^S  to  55t'i"i1|2),  that  is,  twerj  Mishna  (or  Halacha,  doctrine)  which 
was  not  taken  up  into  the  collection  of  the  Mishna  by  R.  Jehuda  Hanasi,  and 
many  of  which  collected  separately  by  his  later  contemporaries  are  contained  in 
different  comjjendiums." 

X  See  Gratz,  GescJiichte  der  yuden,  iv.  232/. ;  Wogue,  Histoire  de  PExigise 
Biblique,  18S1,  p.  185. 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  I75 

mained  fixed  and  definite  since  the  immediate  disciples 
of  Rabbi  Jehuda  completed  it,  although  it  was  probably 
not  committed  to  writing  until  the  middle  of  the  sixth 
century  as  Luzzato  and  Gratz  show,*  when  the  entire 
Talmuds  were  written  out  together.  The  Toseptha  gives 
other  Mishnayoth  added  as  an  appendix.  The  Gemara 
is  then  a  commentary  on  these  Mishnayoth.\  In  the 
passage  on  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  of  the 
Babylonian  Talmud  we  have  only  to  distinguish  the 
Beraitha  from  the  Gemara.  The  BeraitJia  is  introduced 
regularly  by  **  Our  rabbins  teach,"  "  It  is  taught.":j: 
We  present  in  translation  a  section  of  the  tract  Baba 
Bathra,  fol.  14  a.,  containing  the  most  important  refer- 
ences to  the  Old  Testament  writings. 

Beraitha. — The  Rabbins  have  taught  that  the  classification  of 
the  Prophets  is,  Joshua  and  Judges,  Samuel  and  Kings,  Jeremiah 
and  Ezekiel,  Isaiah  and  the  twelve  (minor  prophets). 

Gemara. — {Question)  :  How  is  it?  Hosea  is  first  because  it  is 
written,  "  In  the  beginning  the  Lord  spake  to  Hosea."  But  how 
did  he  speak  in  the  beginning  with  Hosea  ?  Have  there  not  been 
so  many  prophets  from  Moses  unto  Hosea  ?  Rabbi  Johanan  said 
that  he  was  the  first  of  the  four  prophets  who  prophesied  in  the 


*  Gratz,  Gesch.  d.  yuden,  iv.,  p.  494. 

+  Chiarini,  Le  Talmud  de  Baby  lone,  1831,  p.  19,  go  so  far  as  to  say:  "Z^j 
Mekii:ot/i,  les  Tosapholh  et  les  Beraitoth  ont  aussi portile  litre  de  flT'D'JD^ 
ou  de  mDiti  tri'^DtU'^i  P<f^^^  qu'elles  jouissarent  de  la  mime  auctorite 
que  la  Misc/tna  de  Juda  le  Saint,  et  qu'elles  itaient  plus  riputies  encore  que- 
cette  derniire  des  c6te  de  Pordre  et  de  la  clarii."  But  they  are  regarded  as 
apocryphal  Mishnayoth  by  some.  But  this  does  not  decide  their  intrinsic 
value.  See  also  Pressel,  in  Herzog  Real Ency.,  i  Aufl.,  xv.,  p.  661  ;  Gelbhaus, 
Rabbi  Jehuda  Hanassi,  Wien,  1S76,  p.  92.  Schurer,  Lehrb.  d.  A''.  T.  Zeitge- 
schichte,  p.  42  ;  Ziinz,  Gottesdienstlichen  Vortrage  der  Juden,  Berlin,  1832, 
p.  49,  seq. 

\  We  follow  the  editio  princeps,  12  vols,  folio,  Venitia,  Bomberg,  1520,  but 
have  also  consulted  the  edition  published  at  Berlin  and  Frankfort-on-the-Oder  by 
Jablonsky,  1736,  which  follows  the  Basle  edition  in  expurgating  the  anti-Chris- 
tian passages.    Both  of  these  are  in  the  library  of  the  Union  Theol.  Sem.,  N.  Y. 


I^JQ  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

same  period,  and  these  are :  Hosea,  Isaiah,  Amos,  and  Micah. 
Should  then  Hosea  be  placed  before  at  the  head  ?  {Reply) :  No  ; 
since  his  prophecies  had  been  ^vritten  alongside  of  Haggai,  Zecha- 
riah,  and  Malachi,  and  Haggai,  Zechariah,  and  Malachi  were  the 
last  of  the  prophets,- it  was  counted  with  them.  {Question)  :  Ought 
it  to  have  been  written  apart  and  ought  it  to  have  been  placed  be- 
fore ?  (Reply)  :  No  ;  since  it  was  little  and  might  be  easily  lost. 
{Question)  :  How  is  it  ?  Isaiah  was  before  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel. 
Ought  Isaiah  to  be  placed  before  at  the  head  ?  {Reply) :  Since  the 
book  of  Kings  ends  in  ruin  and  Jeremiah  is,  all  of  it,  ruin,  and 
Ezekiel  has  its  beginning  ruin  and  its  end  comfort,  and  Isaiah  is  all 
of  it  comfort ;  we  join  ruin  to  ruin  and  comfort  to  comfort. 

Beraitha. — The  classification  of  the  Hagiographa,  is  Ruth  and 
the  book  of  Psalms,  and  Job,  and  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  Song  of 
Songs  and  Lamentations,  Daniel  and  the  roll  of  Esther,  Ezra  and 
Chronicles. 

Gemara. — {Question)  :  But  according  to  the  Tanaite  who  said 
Job  was  in  the  days  of  Moses,  ought  Job  to  be  placed  before  at  the 
head  ?  {Reply) :  We  begin  not  with  afflictions.  {Question)  :  Ruth 
has  also  afflictions  ?  {Reply) :  But  afflictions  which  have  an  end. 
As  Rabbi  Johanan  says.  Why  was  her  name  called  Ruth  ?  Because 
David  went  forth  from  her  who  refreshed  the  Holy  One,  blessed  be 
He !  with  songs  and  praises. 

Beraitha. — And  who  wrote  them  ?  Moses  wrote  his  book,  the 
chapter  of  Balaam  and  Job;  Joshua  wrote  his  book  and  the  eight 
verses  of  the  law  ;  Samuel  wrote  his  book  and  Judges  and  Ruth  ; 
David  wrote  the  book  of  Psalms  with  the  aid  of  the  ten  ancients, 
with  the  aid  of  Adam  the  first,  Melchizedek,  Abraham,  Moses, 
Heman,  Jeduthun,  Asaph,  the  three  sons  of  Korah  ;  Jeremiah  wrote 
his  book,  the  books  of  Kings  and  Lamentations ;  Hezekiah  and  his 
company  wrote  Isaiah,  Proverbs,  Song  of  Songs  and  Ecclesiastes, 
whose  sign  is  p^)2'^  5  the  men  of  the  great  synagogue  wrote  Ezekiel 
and  the  twelve  (minor  prophets),  Daniel  and  the  roll  of  Esther, 
whose  sign  is  ^"^p  ;  Ezra  wrote  his  book  and  the  genealogy  of 
Chronicles  until  himself. 

GEiMara. — This  will  support  Rab,  for  Rab  Jehuda  told  that  Rab 
said :  Ezra  went  not  up  from  Babylon  until  he  had  registered  his 
own  genealogy,  then  he  went  up.  {Question  i :  And  who  finished  it 
(his  book)  ?     {R^ply^  :  Nehemiah,  son  of  Hachaliah.     The  author 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISxM.  17  7 

(of  the  Beraitha)  said  Joshua  wrote  his  book  and  the  eight  verses  of 
the  law ;  this  is  taught  according  to  him  who  says  of  the  eight 
verses  of  the  law,  Joshua  wrote  them.  For  it  is  taught :  And  Moses 
the  servant  of  the  Lord  died  there.  How  is  it  possible  that  Moses 
died  and  wrote :  and  Moses  died  there  ?  It  is  only  unto  this  pas- 
sage Moses  wrote,  afterwards  Joshua  wrote  the  rest.  These  are 
the  words  of  Rabbi  Jehuda,  others  say  of  Rabbi  Nehemiah,  but 
Rabbi  Simeon  said  to  him ;  Is  it  possible  that  the  book  of  the  law 
could  lack  one  letter,  since  it  is  written  :  Take  this  book  of  the  law  ? 
It  is  only  unto  this  the  Holy  One,  blessed  be  He  !  said,  and  Moses 
said  and   wrote.     From   this   place   and   onwards  the   Holy  One, 

blessed  be  He,  said  and  Moses  wrote  with  weeping 

{Qitestion)  :  Joshua  wrote  his  book  .-*  But  it  is  written  there  :  And 
Joshua  died.  {Reply)  :  Eleazar  finished  it.  {Question)  :  But  yet  it  is 
written  there  :  And  Eleazar  the  son  of  Aaron  died.  {Reply) :  Phineas 
finished  it.  {Question)  :  Samuel  wrote  his  book  }  But  it  is  written 
there  :  And  Samuel  died,  and  they  buried  him  in  Rama.  {Reply) : 
Gad  the  seer  and  Nathan  the  Prophet  finished  it. 

We  have  to  distinguish  the  view  of  the  Tanaim  in  the 
Beraitha  and  the  view  of  the  Amoraim  in  the  Gemara, 
The  Tanaim  do  not  go  beyond  the  scope  of  giving  (i) 
the  order  of  the  sacred  writings,  (2)  their  editors. 

(i)  In  the  order  of  the  xvritings  we  observe  several 
singular  features,  which  lead  us  to  ask  whether  the  order 
is  topical,  chronological,  liturgical,  or  accidental.  The 
Amoraim  explain  the  order  generally  as  topical,  although 
other  explanations  are  given,  but  their  reasons  are  in- 
consistent and  unsatisfactory.  Is  there  a  chronological 
reason  at  the  bottom  ?  This  is  clear  in  the  order  of  the 
three  classes — law,  prophets,  and  other  writings.  But 
will  it  apply  to  the  order  of  the  books  in  the  classes  ? 
There  seems  to  be  a  general  observance  of  the  chrono- 
logical order  if  we  consider  the  subject  matter  as  the 
determining  factor,  and  not  the  time  of  composition. 
In  the  order  of  the  prophets  Jeremiah  precedes  Eze- 
kiel  properly.     But  why  does  Isaiah  follow  ?     Is  it  out 


178  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

of  a  consciousness  that  Isaiah  was  a  collection  of  several 
writings  besides  those  of  the  great  Isaiah,*  or  from  the 
feeHng  that  Isaiah's  prophecies  had  more  to  do  with  the 
restoration  than  the  exile,  and  so  naturally  followed  Eze- 
kiel  ?  The  minor  prophets  are  arranged  in  three  groups, 
and  these  groups  are  chronological  in  order.  Hosea 
was  placed  first  out  of  a  mistaken  interpretation  of  his 
introductory  words.  Malachi  appropriately  comes  last. 
But  this  order  of  the  prophets  in  the  Beraitha  is  aban- 
doned by  the  Massorites,  who  arrange  Isaiah,  Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel.  In  the  other  writings  there  is  a  sort  of  chrono- 
logical order  if  we  consider  the  subject  matter,  but  the 
Massoretic  text  differs  from  the  Beraitha  entirely,  and 
indeed  the  Spanish  and  German  manuscripts  from  one 
another.  We  cannot  escape  the  conviction  that  there 
was  a  liturgical  reason  at  the  basis  of  the  arrangement ; 
which  has  not  yet  been  determined.  At  all  events, 
its  authority  has  little  weight  for  purposes  of  higher 
criticism. 

(2)  As  to  their  editorship.  The  verb  kathabh="  •wroiey" 
cannot  imply  composition  in  the  sense  of  authorship  in 
several  cases  of  its  use  ;  but  must  be  used  in  the  sense 
of  editorship  or  redaction.  Thus  it  is  said  that  the  men 
of  the  great  synagogue  wrote  Ezekiel,  the  minor  proph- 
ets, Daniel,  and  the  roll  of  Esther.  This  cannot  mean 
that  they  were  the  original  authors,  but  that  they  were 
editors  of  these  books.  It  is  not  stated  whether  they 
edited  them  by  copy  from  originals  or  from  'oral  tradi- 
tion. Rashi  takes  the  latter  alternative,  and  thinks  that 
holy  books  could  not  be  written  outside  of  Palestine.f 
An  insuperable  objection  to  this  editing  of  Daniel  and 


♦  Strack  in  Herzogf,  Real  Encyk.^  vii,,  p.  43. 

f  Strack  in  Herzog,  Real  Encyk.,  viL,  p.  418 ;  Wright,  ICohelelh,  p,  454,  seg.\ 
Wogue,  Histoire  de  la  Bible,  p.  19,  seq. 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  179 

Esther  at  the  same  time  as  Ezekiel  and  the  twelve, 
is  their  exclusion  from  the  order  of  the  prophets,  where 
they  would  have  naturally  gone  if  introduced  into  the 
canon  at  that  time;  Esther  with  the  prophetic  histories, 
and  Daniel  with  Isaiah,  Ezekiel,  and  Jeremiah. 

Again,  when  it  is  said  Hezekiah  and  his  company 
wrote  Isaiah,  Proverbs,  Song  of  Songs,  and  Ecclesiastes, 
this  can  only  mean  editorship,  and  not  authorship.  The 
TosapJioth  on  the  Beraitha  says  :  *'  Hezekiah  and  his 
college  wrote  Isaiah  ;  because  Hezekiah  caused  them  to 
busy  themselves  with  the  law,  the  matter  was  called 
after  his  name.  But  he  (Hezekiah)  did  not  write  it  him- 
self, because  he  died  before  Isaiah,  since  Manasseh,  his 
successor,  killed  Isaiah."  The  redaction  of  Proverbs, 
Song  of  Songs  and  Ecclesiastes  by  Hezekiah's  company,  is 
probably  a  conjecture  based  upon  Proverbs  xxv.  i.  But 
the  whole  story  is  incredible.  It  carries  with  it  a  canon 
of  Hezekiah,  and  would  be  inconsistent  with  the  subse- 
quent positions  of  these  books  in  the  canon. 

David  is  represented  as  editing  the  Psalter  with  the 
aid  of  ten  ancients — that  is,  he  used  the  psalms  of  the 
ten  worthies  and  united  them  with  his  own  in  the  collec- 
tion. Moses  is  represented  as  writing  his  book,  the  chap- 
ter of  Balaam  and  Job.  The  chapter  of  Balaam  is  distin- 
guished probably  as  edited  and  not  composed  by  Moses. 
In  view  of  the  usage  of  the  rest  of  this  Beraitha,  we 
cannot  be  sure  whether  it  means  that  Moses  edited  the 
law  and  Job,  or  whether  here  "wrote"  means  author- 
ship. The  same  uncertainty  hangs  over  the  references 
to  Joshua,  Samuel,  Jeremiah,  and  Ezra. 

The  statements  of  the  Beraitha,  therefore,  seem  rather 
to  concern  official  editorship  than  authorship,  and  it  dis- 
tinguishes no  less  than  eight  stages  of  redaction  of  the 
Old  Testament   Scriptures:  (i)  By  Moses,  (2)  Joshua, 


180  BIBLICAL  STUDr.  , 

(3)  Samuel,  (4)  David,  (5)  Hezekiah  and  his  college,  (6) 
Jeremiah,  (7)  the  men  of  the  great  synagogue,  (8)  Ezra. 
The  Gemara  in  its  commentary  upon  this  passage  en- 
larges this  work  of  redaction  so  as  to  give  a  number  of 
additional  prophets  a  hand  in  it.  Joshua,  completes  the 
work  of  Moses,  Eleazar  the  work  of  Joshua,  and  Phineas 
his  work ;  Gad  and  Nathan  finish  the  work  of  Samuel, 
then  come  David,  Hezekiah,  Jeremiah,  the  men  of  the 
great  synagogue ;  and  Nehemiah  finishes  the  work  of 
Ezra.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  all  this  is  pure  conjecture, 
and  of  little  value  for  purposes  of  criticism. 

IV.   HELLENISTIC  AND   CHRISTIAN  THEORIES. 

Having  considered  the  Rabbinical  Tradition,  we  are 
now  prepared  to  examine  that  of  the  Jewish  historian, 
Josephus.     His  general  statement  is : 

"  We  have  not  myriads  of  books  among  us  disagreeing  and  con- 
tradicting one  another,  but  only  twenty-two,  comprising  the  history 
of  ail  past  time,  justly  worthy  of  belief.  And  five  of  them  are  those 
of  Moses,  which  comprise  the  law  and  the  tradition  of  the  genera- 
tion of  mankind  until  his  death.  This  time  extends  to  a  little  less 
than  three  thousand  years.  From  the  death  of  Moses  until  Arta- 
xerxes,  the  king  of  the  Persians  after  Xerxes,  the  prophets  after 
Moses  composed  that  which  transpired  in  their  times  in  thirteen 
books.  Tlie  other  four  books  present  hymns  to  God  and  rules  of 
life  for  men."* 

"  And  now  David,  being  freed  from  wars  and  dangers,  and  enjoy- 
ing a  profound  peace,  composed  songs  and  hymns  to  God  of  several 
sorts  of  metre :  some  of  those  which  he  made  were  trimeters,  and 
some  were  pentameters."! 

Josephus'  views  as  to  Hebrew  literature  vary  some- 
what from  the  Talmud.  He  strives  to  exalt  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures  in  every  way  as  to  style,  antiquity,  and  variety 


Contra  Apion.,  I,  §  8.  t  Antiq.^  vii.  12. 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  181 

above  the  classic  literature  of  Greece.  He  represents 
Moses  as  the  author  of  the  Pentateuch,  even  the  last 
eight  verses  describing  his  own  death.*  We  do  not 
hesitate  to  reject  his  views  of  the  number  and  arrange- 
ment of  the  books  in  the  canon,  or  his  statements  as  to 
the  metres  of  Hebrew  poetry ;  we  certainly  cannot  ac- 
cept his  authority,  without  criticism,  in  questions  of 
authorship.  Philo  agrees  with  Josephus  in  making 
Moses  the  author  of  the  narrative  of  his  own  death,f 
but  has  little  to  say  about  matters  that  concern  the 
higher  criticism. 

A  still  more  ancient  and  higher  authority  in  some 
respects  than  the  Talmud  or  Josephus  is  the  apocalypse 
of  Ezra,  from  the  first  Christian  century,  printed  among 
the  apocryphal  books  in  the  English  Bible,  and  pre- 
served in  five  versions,  and  used  not  infrequently  by 
the  fathers  as  if  it  were  inspired  Scripture.  This  tradi- 
tion represents  that  the  law  and  all  the  holy  books  were 
burned  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar and  lost ;  that  Ezra  under  divine  inspiration 
restored  them  all,  and  also  composed  seventy  others  to 
be  delivered  to  the  wise  as  the  esoteric  wisdom  for  the 
interpretation  of  the  twenty-four.:}: 


*  Antiq.,  iv,  8,  48.  t  Li/e  0/ Moses,  III.  39. 

X  Ezra  saith  :  •»  For  thy  law  is  burnt,  therefore  no  man  knoweth  the  thin^ 
that  are  done  of  thee,  or  the  works  that  shall  begin.  But  if  I  have  found  grace 
before  thee,  send  the  Holy  Ghost  unto  me,  and  I  shall  write  all  that  hath  been 
done  in  the  world  since  the  beginning  which  were  written  in  thy  law,  that  men 

may  find  thy  path,"  etc "  Come  hither,  (saith  God),  and  I  shall  light  a 

candle  of  understanding  in  thine  heart  which  shall  not  be  put  out  till  the  things 
be  performed  which  thou  shalt  begin  to  write.  And  when  thoa  hast  done,  some 
things  shalt  thou  publish,  and  some  things  shalt  thou  show  secretly  to  the  wise. 
....  The  first  that  thou  hast  written  publish  openly,  that  the  worthy  and  the 
unworthy  may  read  it ;  but  keep  the  seventy  last,  that  thou  mayest  deliver  them 
only  to  such  as  be  wise  among  the  people,  for  in  them  is  the  spring  of  under- 
standing, the  fountain  of  wisdom  and  the  stream  of  knowledge  "  (xiv.  19-46). 


182  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

This  view  of  the  restoration  of  the  Old  Testament 
writings  by  Ezra  was  advocated  by  some  of  the  fathers. 
Clement  of  Alexandria  *  says : 

"  Since  the  Scriptures  perished  in  the  captivity  of  Nebuchadnezzar, 
Esdras  the  Levite,  the  priest,  in  the  time  of  Artaxerxes,  king  of  the 
Persians,  having  become  inspired,  in  the  exercise  of  prophecy  re- 
stored again  the  whole  of  the  ancient  Scriptures." 

« 

So,  also,  Tertullian,f  Chrysostom,:}:  an  ancient  writing 
attributed  to  Augustine,§  the  heretical  Clementine  hom- 
ilies.f  Another  common  opinion  of  the  fathers  is  repre- 
sented by  Irenaeus  :^ 

"  During  the  captivity  of  the  people  under  Nebuchadnezzar,  the 
Scriptures  had  been  corrupted,  and  when,  after  seventy  years,  the 
Jews  had  returned  to  their  own  land,  then  in  the  time  of  Artaxerxes, 
King  of  the  Persians,  [God]  inspired  Esdras  the  priest,  of  the  tribe 
of  Levi,  to  recast  all  the  words  of  former  prophets,  and  to  re-estab- 
lish with  the  people  the  Mosaic  legislation." 

So,  also,  Theodoret**  and  Basil.ft  Jerome :{::{:  says 
with  reference  to  this  tradition :  "  Whether  you  wish  to  say 
that  Moses  is  the  author  of  the  Pentateuch,  or  that  Ezra 
restored  it,  is  indifferent  to  me."  Bellarmin§§  is  of  the 
opinion  that  the  books  of  the  Jews  were  not  entirely 
lost,  but  that  Ezra  corrected  those  that  had  become  cor- 
rupted, and  improved  the  copies  he' restored. 

Jerome,  in   the  fourth  century,  relied  largely  upon 


*  StromatcT,  i.  22.  +  De  cultu/oeminctrum,  c.  3. 

X  Horn.  viiL,  in  Epist.  Hebraeos,  Migne's  edition,  xvii.  p.  74- 

§  De  mirabilibus  sacrae  script urae,  II.  33,  printed  with  Augustine's  works,  but 
not  genuine. 

I  Horn.  iii.  c.  47.  H  Adv.  Hareses,  iii.  21,  a. 

**  Praef.  in  Psalmos. 

ft  Epist.  ad  Chilonem,  Migne's  edition,  IV.,  p.  358.  See  Simon,  Hist.  Crit. 
de  Vieux  Test.,  Amsterd.  1685,  and  Fabridus,  Codex  Pseudepigraph.  Ham- 
burg, 1722,  p.  1156,  seq. 

\X  Adv.  Helvidium.  §§  De  verba  Dei.,  lib.  2. 


THE  niGHER  CRITICISM.  183 

Jewish  rabbinical  authority,  and  gave  his  great  influence 
toward  bringing  the  fluctuating  traditions  in  the  church 
into  more  accordance  with  the  rabbinical  traditions,  but 
he  could  not  entirely  succeed.  He  held  that  the  orphan 
Psalms  belonged  as  a  rule  to  the  previous  ones,  and  in 
general  followed  the  rabbins  in  associating  the  sacred 
writings  with  the  familiar  names — Moses,  David,  Solo- 
mon, Jeremiah,  Ezra,  and  so  on.  There  is,  however,  no 
consensus  of  the  fathers  on  these  topics. 

Junilius,  in  the  midst  of  the  sixth  century,  author  of 
the  first  extant  Introduction,*  a  reproduction  of  a  lost 
work  of  his  instructor,  Paul  of  Nisibis,  of  the  Antiochian 
school  of  Exegesis,  presents  a  view  which  may  be  re- 
garded as  representing  very  largely  the  Oriental  and 
Western  churches.  He  divides  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments  into  17  histories,  17  prophe- 
cies, 2  proverbial,  and  17  doctrinal  writings.  Under 
authorship,  he  makes  the  wise  discrimination  between 
those  having  their  authors  indicated  in  their  titles  and 
introductions,  and  those  whose  authorship  rested  purely 
on  tradition,  including  in  the  latter  the  Pentateuch  and 
Joshua.f 

This  work  of  Junilius  held  its  own  as  an  authority  in 
the  Western  church  until  the  Reformation.     It  would 


*  Institutio  regularis  Divinae  Legis. 

+  "Scriptores  divinorum  libronun  qua  ratione  cognoscimus  ?  Tribus  modis  : 
aut  ex  titulis  et  proemiis  ut  propheticos  libros  et  apostoli  epistolas,  aut  ex  titulis 
tantum  ut  evangelislas,  aut  ex  tiaditione  vetenim  ut  Moyses  traditur  scripsisse 
quiaque  primos  libros  historiae,  cum  non  dicat  hoc  titulus  nee  ipse  referat  '  dixit 
dominus  ad  me,'  sed  quasi  de  alio  'dixit,  dominus  ad  Moysen.'  Similiter  et 
Jesu  Nave  liber  ab  eo  quo  nuncupatur  traditur  scriptus,  et  primum  regum  librum 
Samuel  scripsisse  perhibetur.  Sciendum  prajterea  quod  quorundam  librorum 
penitus  igniorantur  auctores  ut  Judicum  et  Ruth  et  Regum  iii.  ultimi  et  cetera 
similia,  quod  ideo  credendum  est  divinitus  dispensatum,  ut  alii  quoque  divini 
libri  non-auctorum  merito,  sed  sancti  spiritus  gratia  tantum  culmen  auctoritatis 
obtinuisse  noscantur."  (§  viii.  2  ;  see  Kibn,  Thecdor  von  Mopsuestia  und  Jun- 
ilius A/ricanus  als  Exegcten,  pp.  319-330). 


184  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

be  difficult  to  define  a  consensus  of  the  first  Christian 
century  or  of  the  fathers  in  regard  to  the  authorship  of 
the  historical  books  of  the  Old  Testament  or  other  ques- 
tions of  the  higher  criticism.  The  variant  traditions, 
unfixed  and  fluctuating,  came  down  to  the  men  of  the 
eighteenth  century  to  be  tested  by  the  Scriptures,  and 
by  the  principles  of  the  higher  criticism,  and  they  found 
no  consensus  patrum  and  no  orthodox  symbolical  doctrines 
in  their  way. 

V.    THE    NEW  TESTAMENT  VIEW   OF    OLD    TESTAMENT 

LITERATURE. 

It  is  claimed,  however,  that  Jesus  and  His  apostles 
have  determined  these  questions  for  us,  and  that  their 
divine  authority  relieves  us  of  any  obligation  to  investi- 
gate further,  as  their  testimony  is  final.  This  does  not  , 
seem  to  have  been  the  view  of  Junilius  or  the  fathers. 
So  far  as  we  can  ascertain,  this  argument  was  first  urged 
in  opposition  to  Peyrerius  by  Maresius,*  and  pressed  by 
Heidegger,  the  Swiss  scholastic,  who  sided  with  Buxtorf 
and  Owen  against  Cappellus  and  Walton.  But  the  argu- 
ment having  been  advanced  by  these  divines,  and  forti- 
fied by  the  Lutheran  scholastic  Carpzov,  and  maintained 
by  Hengstenberg,  Keil,  and  Home,  and  by  a  large  num- 
ber of  scholars  who  lean  on  these  authorities,  it  is  neces- 
sary for  us  to  test  it.  Clericus  went  too  far  when  he 
said  that  Jesus  Christ  and  His  apostles  did  not  come 
into  the  world  to  preach  criticism  to  the  Jews.f     The 


*  Maresius,  Refutatio  Fabulce  Preadamita,  1656 ;  Heidegger,  Exercit.  Bih- 
licce,  ijoo ;  Dissert,  ix,  p.  250,  se^. 

■+  In  Sentimens  de  gueigues  TheologUns  de  Holland  sur  /'  Histoire  Critique, 
p.  126,  Amst.,  1685,  Clericus  says:  "Jesus  Christ  et  ses  Apotres  n'etant  pas 
venus  au  monde,  pour  ensegner  la  Critique  au  Juifs,  il  ne  faut  pas  s'etonner, 
s'ils  parient  selon  ropinion  commune." 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  185 

response  of  Hermann  Witsius,  that  Jesus  came  to  teach 
the  truth,  and  could  not  be  imposed  upon  by  common 
ignorance,  or  be  induced  to  favor  vulgar  errors,  is  just.* 
And  yet  we  cannot  altogether  deny  the  principle  of 
accommodation,  in  the  life  and  teachings  of  Jesus.  The 
principle  of  accommodation  is  a  part  of  the  wonderful 
condescension  of  the  divine  grace  to  human  weakness, 
ignorance,  and  sinfulness.  Jesus  teaches  that  Moses, 
because  of  the  hardness  of  their  hearts,  suffered  ancient 
Israel  to  divorce  their  wives  for  reasons  which  the 
higher  dispensation  will  not  admit  as  valid  (Matt. 
xix.  8).  The  divine  revelation  is  a  training-school  for 
the  disciple,  ever  reserving  from  him  what  he  is  unable 
to  bear,  and  holding  forth  the  promise  of  greater  light  to 
those  using  the  light  they  have. 

"  It  is  not  required  in  a  religious  or  Inspired  teacher,  nor  indeed 
would  it  be  prudent  or  right,  to  shock  the  prejudices  of  his  unin- 
formed hearers,  by  inculcating  truths  which  they  are  unprepared  to 
receive.  If  he  would  reap  a  harvest,  he  must  prepare  the  ground 
before  he  attempts  to  sow  the  seed.  Neither  is  it  required  of  such 
an  one  to  persist  in  inculcating  religious  instruction  after  such  evi- 
dence of  its  rejection  as  is  sufficient  to  prove  incurable  obstinacy. 
Now  it  must  be  granted  that  in  most  of  these  cases  there  is  accom- 
modation. The  teacher  omits,  either  altogether  or  in  part,  certain 
religious  truths,  and,  perhaps,  truths  of  great  importance,  in  accom- 
modation to  the  incompetency  and  weakness  of  those  whom  he  has 

to  instruct It  appears,  then,  that  accommodation  may  be 

allowed  in  matters  which  have  no  connection  with  religion,  and  in 
these,  too,  so  far  as  regards  the  degree  and  the  fonn  of  instruction. 


*  "  Enim  vero  non  fuere  Christus  et  Apostoli  Critices  dcctores,  quales  se 
haberi  postulant,  qui  hodie  sibi  regnnm  litterarum  in  quavis  vindicant  scientia ; 
fuerunt  tamen  doctores  veritatis,  neque  passi  sunt  sibi  per  communem  ignoran- 
tiam  aut  procerum  astum  imponi.  Non  certe  in  mundum  venere  ut  vulgares 
errores  foverunt,  suaque  auctoritate  munirent,  nee  per  Judxossolum  sed  et  popu- 
los  unice,  a  se  pendentes  longe  lateque  spargerent." — Misc.  Sacra,  I.,  p.  117. 


186  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

But  positive  accommodation  to  religious  error  is  not  to  be  found  in 
Scripture,  neither  is  it  justifiable  in  moral  principle."  ♦ 

Jesus  withheld  from  the  twelve  apostles  many  things 
of  vast  importance  which  they  could  not  know  then,  but 
should  know  hereafter  (John  xiii.  7).  Jesus  did  not  enter 
into  any  further  conflict  with  the  errors  of  His  time  than 
was  necessary  for  His  purposes  of  grace  in  the  Gospel. 
He  exercised  a  wise  prudence  and  a  majestic  reserve  in 
matters  of  indifference  and  minor  importance,  and  was 
never  premature  in  declaring  Himself  and  the  principles 
of  His  Gospel.  There  were  no  sufficient  reasons  why  He 
should  correct  the  prevailing  views  as  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment books,  and  by  His  authority  determine  these  liter- 
aiy  questions.  He  could  not  teach  error,  but  he  could 
and  did  constantly  forbear  with  reference  to  errors. 
Polygamy  and  slavery  have  been  defended  from  the 
New  Testament  because  Jesus  and  His  apostles  did  not 
declare  against  them.  If  all  the  views  of  the  men  of 
the  time  of  Christ  are  to  be  pronounced  valid  which 
He  did  not  pronounce  against,  we  shall  be  involved  in 
a  labyrinth  of  difficulties. 

The  authority  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  all  who  know  Him 
to  be  their  divine  Saviour,  outweighs  all  other  authority 
whatever.  A  Christian  man  must  follow  His  teachings 
in  all  things  as  the  guide  into  all  truth.  The  authority 
of  Jesus  Christ  is  involved  in,  that  of  the  apostles. 
What,  then,  do  Jesus  and  His  apostles  teach  as  to  the 
questions  of  higher  criticism?  If  they  used  the  lan- 
guage of  the  day  in  speaking  of  the  Old  Testament 
books,  it  does  not  follow  that  they  adopted  any  of  the 
various  views  of  authorship  and  editorship  that  went 


*  Dr.  S.  H.  Turner,  in  his  edition  of  Planck's  Introduction  to  Sacred  Philol- 
ogy.   Edin.,  1834,  pp.  ■2r}S-•2^^.    New  York,  1834,  p.  280,  seq. 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  187 

with  these  terms  in  the  Talmud,  or  in  Josephus,  or  in 
the  apocalypse  of  Ezra,  for  we  are  not  to  interpret  their 
words  on  this  or  on  any  other  subject  by  Josephus,  or 
the  Mishna,  or  the  apocalypse  of  Ezra,  or  any  such  ex- 
ternal authorities,  but  by  the  plain  grammatical  and 
contextual  sense  of  their  words  themselves.  From  the 
various  New  Testament  passages  we  present  the  follow- 
ing summary  of  what  is  taught  on  these  subjects: 

I.  Of  the  Hagiographa  the  only  ones  used  in  the 
New  Testament  in  connection  with  names  of  persons  are 
the  Psalter  and  Daniel.  With  reference  to  Chronicles, 
Ezra,  Nehemiah,  Proverbs,  Song  of  Songs,  Ecclesiastes, 
Esther,  and  Ruth,  the  New  Testament  gives  no  evi- 
dence whatever  in  questions  of  the  higher  criticism.* 
(i)  With  reference  to  the  Psalter,  .citations  are  made 
from  Ps.  Ixix.  26;  cix.  8  (in  Acts  i.  16-20);  ii.  i,  seq. 
(in  Acts  iv.  25) ;  as  "  by  the  mouth  of  David ";  from 
xxxii.  \,  seq.  (in  Rom.  iv.  6);  Ixix.  23  (in  Rom.  xi.  9) ; 
xvi.  8-11  (in  Acts  ii.  25-29);  ex.  i  (in  Acts  ii.  34),  as 
"  David  saith  ";  and  ex.  i  (in  Matt.  xxii.  ^3-45  ;  Mark 
xii.  36,  37 ;  Luke  xx.  42-44) ;  under  various  terms  in 
the  parallel  passages  as,  "  David  in  the  Spirit  calls  him 
Lord  ";  "  David  himself  said  in  the  Holy  Spirit  ";  "  Da- 
vid himself  saith  in  the  book  of  Psalms."  The  maxi- 
mum of  evidence  here  is  as  to  the  Davidic  authorship 
of  Pss.  ii.,  xvi.,  xxxii.,  Ixix,,  cix.,  and  ex.,  in  all  six 
psalms  out  of  the  150  contained  in  the  Psalter.  As  to 
the  rest,  there  is  no  use  of  them  in  connection  with  the 
name  of  an  author.  There  is,  however,  a  passage  upon 
which  the  Davidic  authorship  of  the  entire  Psalter  has 


*  For  a  fuller  discussion  of  this  subject,  we  would  refer  to  the  exhaustive  paper 
of  Prof.  Francis  Brown,  The  New  Testament  Witness  to  the  Authors/tip  of 
Old  Testament  Books  in  the  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Literature  and 
Exegesis,  1882,  p.  95,  seq. 


Igg  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

been  based,  e.  g.,  Heb.  iv.  7  ;  *  where  a  citation  from  Ps. 

*  Thus,  William  Gouge,  one  of  the  most  honored  Puritan  divines,  in  his 
Commentary  on  Hebrews,  in  discussing  this  passage,  says  : 

"  From  the  mention  of  David  in  reference  to  the  Psalm,  we  may  probably  con- 
clude that  David  was  the  penman  of  the  whole  Book  of  Psalms,  especially  from 
this  phrase,  '  David  himself  saith  in  the  Book  of  Psalms '  (Luke  xx.  42).  Some 
exceptions  are  made  against  this  conclusion,  but  such  as  may  readily  be  an- 
swered. 

"  Objection  i. — Sundry  psalms  have  not  the  title  of  David  prefixed  before 
them  ;  they  have  no  title  at  all,  as  the  first,  second,  and  others.  Ans.—li  they  have 
no  title,  why  should  they  not  be  ascribed  to  David,  rather  then  to  £my  other,  con- 
sidering that  the  Book  of  Psalms  is  indefinitely  attributed  to  him  (as  we  heard 
out  of  the  forementioned  place,  Luke  xx.  42),  which  is  the  title  prefixed  before 
all  the  Psalms,  as  comprising  them  all  under  it  ?  Besides,  such  testimonies  as 
are  taken  out  of  Psalms  that  have  no  title  are  appUed  to  David,  as  Acts  iv.  25, 
and  this  testimony  that  is  here  taken  out  of  Psalm  xcv.  7. 

"  Objection  2.— Some  titles  are  ascribed  to  other  authors ;  as  Psalms  Ixxiv, 
cxxvii.  to  Solomon.  Ans. — The  Hebrew  servile  lamed  is  variously  taken  and 
translated  ;  as  sometimes,  o/,  Psalm  iii.  i,  '  A  Psalm  of  David.'  Then  it  signi- 
fieth  the  author :  Thus  it  is  used  in  most  titles,  especially  when  they  are  applied 
to  David.  Other  time  this  is  translated  /or,  as  Psalm  Ixxii.  1  and  cxxviu  In 
these  it  implieth  that  the  Psalm  was  penned  /or  Solomon's  use  or  for  his  in- 
struction. It  may  also  be  thus  translated,  concerning  Solomon.  That  the  Ixxii. 
Psalm  was  penned  by  David  is  evident  by  the  close  thereof,  in  these  words  : 
•  The  prayers  of  David  the  son  of  Jesse  are  ended.' 

"  Obj'ection  3. — Some  titles  ascribe  the  Psalm  to  this  or  that  Levite,  as  Psalm 
Ixxxviii.  to  Heman,  and  Ixxxix.  to  Ethan.  Yea,  twelve  Psalms  to  Asaph  and  eleven 
to  the  sons  of  Korah.  Ans. — All  these  were  very  skillful,  not  only  in  singing, 
but  also  in  setting  tuftes  to  Psalms.  They  were  musick  masters.  Therefore,  Da- 
vid, having  penned  the  Psalms,  committed  them  to  the  foresaid  Levites  to  be 
fitly  tuned.  ...  It  will  not  follow  that  any  of  them  were  enditers  of  any  of  the 
Psalms,  because  their  name  is  set  in  the  title  of  some  of  them. 

"  Objection  4. — The  xcth  Psalm  carrieth  this  title  :  '  A  Prayer  of  Moses  the 
Man  of  God.'  Ans. — It  is  said  to  be  the  prayer  of  Moses  in  regard  of  the  sub- 
stance and  general  matter  of  it ;  but,  as  a  Psalm,  it  was  penned  by  David.  He 
brought  it  into  that  form.  David,  as  a  prophet,  knew  that  Moses  bad  uttered 
such  a  prayer  in  the  substance  of  it ;  therefore,  he  preCxeth  that  title  before  it. 

"  Obj'ection  5. — The  cxxxviith  Psalm  doth  set  down  the  disposition  and  car- 
riage of  the  Israelites  in  the  Babylonish  Captivity,  which  was  six  hundred 
fourty  years  after  David's  time,  and  the  cxxvith  Psalm  sets  out  their  return  from 
that  Captivity.  Ans. — To  grant  these  to  be  so,  yet  might  David  pen  those 
Psalms ;  for,  by  a  prophetical  .spirit,  he  might  foresee  what  would  fall  out  and 
answerably  pen  Psalms  fit  thereunto.  Moses  did  the  like  (Deut.  xxix.  22,  etc., 
and  xxxi.  21,  22,  etc.).  A  man  of  God  expressly  set  do%vn  distinct  acts  of  Jo- 
siah  330  years  before  they  fell  out  (i  Kings  xiii.  2).  Isaiah  did  the  like  of  Cyrus 
(Is.  xliv.  2S ;  xlv.  i),  which  was  about  two  hundred  years  beforehand." 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  189 

xcv.  7-8  is  given  "  as  the  Holy  Spirit  saith  in  David, 
fV  Javeld."  This  only  means  that  David  was  the  name 
of  the  Psalter  and  this  title  was  used  interchangeably 
with  the  book  of  Psalms,  or  Psalms.  The  question  of 
integrity  is  raised  by  the  citation  of  our  Psalm  ii.  as 
Psalm  i.,  according  to  the  best  manuscripts  in  Acts  xiii. 
33.*  Were  these  two  Psalms  combined  in  one  at  the 
time,  or  was  the  first  Psalm  regarded  as  introductory 
and  not  counted  ?  Both  views  are  supported  by  MSS. 
and  citations. 

(2)  Daniel  xi.  31  or  xii.  11  is  used  in  Matt.  xxiv.  15 
under  the  formula,  "  that  which  was  spoken  by  Daniel 
the  prophet."  With  reference  to  this,  we  will  simply 
quote  the  judicious  words  of  Prof.  Brown  : 

"  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  passage  cited  in  Matt.  xxiv.  15  is 
from  the  second  division  of  the  book,  a  division  which,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  certain  brief  introductory  notes,  contains  prophecies  exclu- 
sively, and  that  this  division  is  distinctly  marked  off  from  the  pre- 
ceding by  the  nature  of  its  contents,  and  by  the  brief  introduction, 
Dan.  vii.  i.  Now,  suppose  evidence  were  to  be  presented  from  other 
quarters  to  show  that  while  the  book  as  a  whole  was  not  written  by 
Daniel,  the  last  six  chapters  containefl  prophecies  of  Daniel,  which 
the  later  author  had  incorporated  in  his  book.  On  that  supposition, 
the  words  of  Jesus  taken  in  their  most  rigid,  literal  meaning  would 
be  perfectly  satisfied.  We  may  go  yet  further.  If  other  evidence 
should  be  adduced  tending  to  show  that  'Daniel,  the  prophet,'  was 
a  pseudonym,  still  there  would  be  nothing  in  Jesus'  use  of  the  ex- 
pression to  commit  Him  to  any  other  view.  For  the  words  were 
certainly  written,  and  written  in  the  form  of  a  prophecy,  and  were  a 
prophecy,  and  the  book  containing  them  was  an  inspired,  canonical, 
and  authoritative  book ;  the  citation  was,  therefore,  suitable  and 
forcible  for  Jesus'  purposes,  whoever  the  author  may  have  been, 
and  the  use  of  a  current  pseudonym  to  designate  the  author  no 
more  committed  Jesus  to  a  declaration  that  that  was  the  author's 
real  name,  than  our  use  of  the  expression  'Junius  says  '  would  com- 


*  So  Tischendorf,  Critica  Major,  Editio  Octava. 


190  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

mit  us  to  a  declaration  that  the  '  Letters  of  Junius '  were  composed 
by  a  person  of  that  name  ;  or  than,  on  the  supposition  already  dis- 
cussed, that  'Enoch'  was  regarded  as  a  pseudonym,  Jude  14 
would  indicate  the  belief  of  the  author  that  Enoch  himself  actually 
uttered  the  words  which  he  quotes."  * 

II.  The  Prophets,  (i)  The  only  one  of  the  prophetic 
historical  books  mentioned  in  connection  with  a  name  is 
Samuel,  in  Acts  iii.  24 :  "  All  the  prophets  from  Samuel 
and  them  that  followed  after,  as  many  as  have  spoken, 
they  also  told  of  these  days."  The  reference  here  is  to 
the  book  of  Samuel,  for  the  reason  that  there  is  no  Mes- 
sianic prophecy  ascribed  to  Samuel  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. The  context  forces  us  to  think  of  such  an  one. 
We  find  it  in  the  prophecy  of  Nathan  in  the  book  of 
Samuel.  These  historical  books  then  bore  the  name  of 
Samuel,  and  their  contents  are  referred  to  as  Samuel's. 
As  to  Joshua,  Judges,  and  Kings  we  have  no  use  of 
them  in  such  a  way  as  to  raise  questions  of  higher  criti- 
cism. 

(2)  Of  the  prophetic  writings  in  particular  the  New 
Testament  refers  only  to  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Hosea,  and 
Joel  in  connection  with  names.  Ezekiel  and  ten  of  the 
minor  prophets  are  not  used  in  such  a  way  as  to  raise  ques- 
tions of  higher  criticism  except  Jonah,  who  is  referred 

■to  as  a  prophet  in  connection  with  his  preaching  to  the 
Ninevites  and  to  his  abode  in  the  belly  of  the  great  fish 
(Matt.  xii.  39-41),  but  no  reference  as  such  is  made  to 
the  book  that  bears  his  name  in  connection  with  his 
name.  The  question  whether  Jonah  is  history  or  fiction 
is  not  decided  by  Jesus'  use  of  it — for  as  a  parable  it 
answered  His  purpose  no  less  than  if  it  were  history. 

(3)  Hosea  i.  10 ;  ii.  23  are  quoted  Rom.  ix.  25,  as  "  in 


*  In  /.  f.,  pp.  106,  107. 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  191 

Hosea."  This  is  probably  nothing  more  than  the  name 
of  the  writing  used.  Joel  ii.  28-32  is  quoted  in  Acts  ii. 
16  as,  "This  is  that  which  was  said  through  the  prophet 
Joel." 

(4)  Jeremiah  is  cited  in  Matt,  ii,  17  ;  xxvii.  9,  under  the 
formula,  "  that  which  was  spoken  through  Jeremiah  the 
prophet  saying."  The  former  citation  is  from  Jeremiah 
(xxxi.  15),  the  latter  from  Zechariah  (xi.  12-13).  This 
raises  the  question  of  the  integrity  of  Zechariah.  On  the 
basis  of  this  passage  chaps,  ix.-xi.  of  Zechariah  were  as- 
cribed to  Jeremiah  by  Mede,  Hammond,  and  Kidder 
(see  p.  169).  But  it  is  now  generally  conceded  that  the 
evangelist  has  made  a  mistake,  and  this  raises  the  ques- 
tion how  far  errors  of  this  character  affect  thq  credibility 
of  a  writing. 

(5)  Isaiah  is  frequently  used  in  the  formula,  "  through 
Isaiah  the  prophet  saying":  Is.  xl.  3  (in  Matt.  iii.  3)  ;  Is. 
ix.  I  seq.  (Matt.  iv.  14);  Is.  liii.  4  (in  Matt.  viii.  17) ;  Is. 
xlii.  1-4  (in  Matt.  xii.  17)  ;  Is.  vi.  9  seq.  (Acts  xxviii. 
25) ;  so  with  the  formula  "  Isaiah  said,"  Is.  xl.  3  (John 
i.  23) ;  Is.  vi.  9  seg.  (in  John  xii.  39-41) ;  Is.  liii.  i  (in 
Rom.  X.  16);  Is.  Ixv.  I  seg.  (Rom.  x.  20);  Is.  xi.  10 
(Rom.  XV.  12);  "the  book  of  the  prophet  Isaiah,"  Is. 
xl.  3-5  (Luke  iii.  4) ;  Is.  Ixi.  1-2  (Luke  iv.  17)  ;  "  word  of 
Isaiah  the  prophet,"  Is.  liii.  I  (John  xii.  38) ;  "  reading 
the  prophet  Isaiah,"  Is.  liii.  7  (Acts  viii.  28-30) ;  "  Isaiah 
cries  out,"  Is.  x.  22  seq.  (Rom.  ix.  27)  ;  "  Isaiah  foretold," 
Is.  i.  9  (Rom.  ix.  29) ;  "  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah,"  Is.  vi. 
9  (Matt.  xiii.  14);  "Isaiah  prophesied,"  Is.  xxix.  13 
(Matt.  XV.  7);  Is.  xxix.  13  (Mark  vii.  6).  Besides  these 
there  is  a  passage  of  more  difficulty  in  Mark  i.  2, 
where,  with  the  formula,  "  written  in  Isaiah  the  proph- 
et," are  cited  Mai.  iii.  i  and  Is.  xl.  3.  This  seems  to 
be  a  clear  case  in  which  the  evangelist  has  overlooked 


192  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

the  fact  that  one  of  his  citations  is  from  Malachi.  This 
raises  the  question  how  far  a  slip  like  this  is  consist- 
ent with  credibility.  The  various  formulas  of  citation 
seem  on  the  surface  to  imply  the  authorship  of  our 
book  of  Isaiah  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  and  also  its  essen- 
tial integrity,  inasmuch  as  the  citations  are  from  all  parts 
of  the  book.  But  we  have  found  that  Samuel  is  repre- 
sented as  prophesying,  when  the  prophecy  is  by  Nathan 
in  the  book  that  bore  the  name  of  Samuel.  How  can 
we  be  sure  that  this  is  not  the  case  with  Isaiah,  likewise 
in  the  phrases,  "through  Isaiah  the  prophet,  saying," 
"Isaiah  said,"  "v/ords  of  Isaiah  the  prophet,"  "Isaiah 
cries  out,"  "  Isaiah  foretold,"  "  Isaiah  prophesied  "  ?  The 
phrases,  "  book  of  the  prophet  Isaiah,"  "  reading  the 
prophet  Isaiah,"  "  prophecy  of  Isaiah,"  certainly  imply 
nothing  more  than  naming  the  book.  The  presumption 
of  the  New  Testament  is  in  favor  of  the  authorship  of 
Isaiah,  but,  in  the  face  of  other  decisive  evidence  to  the 
contrary,  does  not  force  us  to  any  other  conclusion  than 
that  the  book  as  a  whole  bore  the  name  of  Isaiah. 

III.  Of  the  Pentateuch,  (i)  Jesus  speaks  of  the  law 
of  Moses  (John  vii.  23)  and  the  book  of  Moses  (Mark 
xii.  26).  The  evangelist. uses  Moses  for  the  Pentateuch 
(Luke  xxiv.  27).  So  the  apostles  refer  to  the  law  of 
Moses  (Acts  xxviii.  23),  and  use  Moses  for  the  Penta- 
teuch (Acts  XV.  21  ;  2  Cor.  iii.  15).  These  are  all  cases 
of  naming  books  cited.  They  have  as  their  parallel 
David  as  the  name  of  the  Psalter  in  Heb.  iv.  7  r  Acts 
iv.  25  ;  Samuel,  also  of  the  book  of  Samuel,  Acts  iii.  2^. 
It  is  certainly  reasonable  to  interpret  Moses  in  these 
passages  in  the  same  way  as  the  name  of  the  work  con- 
taining his  legislation,  and  the  history  in  which  he  is 
the  central  figure. 

(2)  Jesus  represents  Moses  as  a  lawgiver,  giving  the 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  193 

Ten  Commandments  (Mark  vii.  lo),  the  law  of  the  lepers* 
offering  (Mark  i.  44,  etc.),  the  law  of  divorce  (Matt.  xix. 
7),  the  law  in  general  (John  vii.  19).  The  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  represents  Moses  as  giving  the  law  of  priest- 
hood (Heb.  vii.  14),  and  as  a  lawgiver  whose  law  when  is- 
sued at  the  time  could  not  be  disobeyed  with  impunity 
(Heb.  X.  28).  These  passages  all  represent  Moses  to  be 
the  lawgiver  that  he  appears  to  be  in  the  narratives  of 
the  Pentateuch,  but  do  not,  by  any  means,  imply  the 
authorship  of  those  narratives  that  contain  these  laws, 
any  more  than  the  reference  in  i  Cor.  ix.  14,  to  the  com- 
mand of  Christ  in  Luke  x.  7,  and  the  institution  of  the 
Lord's  supper  by  Jesus  (i  Cor.  xi.  23  seq^,  imply  that 
Jesus  was  the  author  of  the  gospels  containing  His 
words. 

(3)  Jesus  represents  Moses  as  a  prophet  who  wrote  of 
Him  (John  v.  46,  47) ;  so  Philip  (John  i.  45) ;  Peter  (Acts 
iii.  22-24)  ;  Stephen  (Acts  vii.  37)  ;  Paul  (Acts  xxvi.  22), 
and  in  Rom.  x.  5,  19  the  apostle  refers  to  the  address  in 
Deut.  XXX.  and  the  song  Deut.  xxxii.  These  passages 
maintain  that  certain  prophecies  came  from  Moses,  but 
do  not  maintain  that  the  Pentateuch,  as  a  whole,  or  the 
narratives  in  which  these  prophecies  occur,  were  written 
by  Moses. 

(4)  Certain  historical  events  narrated  in  the  Penta- 
teuch in  which  Moses  takes  the  lead,  are  mentioned  (in 
Heb.  viii.  5,  ix.  19,  xii.  21,  etc.),  but  these  simply  teach 
the  historical  character  of  the  transactions,  not  the  ex- 
clusive Mosaic  authorship  of  the  writings  containing 
these  historical  incidents. 

(5)  In  the  passage.  Acts  iii.  22,  "  For  Moses  truly  said 
unto  the  fathers,  A  prophet  shall  the  Lord  God  raise  up 

unto  you,  etc Yea,  and  all  the  prophets   from 

Samuel,  and  those  that  follow  after,  as  manv  as  have 


194  BIBLICAL  ST  DDT. 

spoken,  have  likewise  foretold  of  these  days,"  it  is  nec- 
essary to  interpret  "  Samuel  "  of  the  book  of  Samuel,  and 
think  of  the  prophecy  of  Nathan  ;  and  if  this  be  so,  is 
it  not  most  natural  to  interpret  "  Moses  "  here  as  also  re- 
ferring to  the  book  of  Deuteronomy  rather  than  the 
person  of  Moses  ?  If  that  be  true  in  this  case,  it  may 
also  be  true  of  other  cases  classed  under  (2)  and  (3). 
Samuel  cannot,  it  is  now  generally  admitted,  be  regarded 
as  the  author  of  the  book  that  bears  his  name  ;  why, 
then,  are  we  forced  to  conclude  from  these  passages  that 
Moses  is  the  author  of  the  books  that  bear  his  name  ? 

It  has  been  objected  that  this  method  of  determining 
what  the  words  of  Jesus  and  His  apostles  may  mean  in 
detail  does  not  show  what  they  mtist  mean  when  taken 
together.  It  has,  however,  been  forgotten  by  the  ob- 
jectors that  the  proper  exegetical  method  is  inductive 
and  that  the  path  of  exegesis  is  to  rise  from  the  partic- 
ulars to  the  general.  The  dogmatic  method  is  in  the 
habit  of  saying  a  passage  must  mean  thus  and  so  from 
dogmatic  presuppositions.  The  exegete  prefers  the  may 
until  he  is  forced  to  the  must.  He  has  learned  to  place 
little  confidence  in  the  "  must  mean  "  of  tradition  and 
dogmatism  ;•  for  he  has  so  often  been  obliged  to  lay  it 
aside  as  impossible  from  exegetical  considerations.  Who, 
then,  is  to  say  must  in  the  interpretation  of  the  New 
Testament  exterior  to  itself?  Is  the  Talmud  to  say 
must  to  the  words  of  our  Lord  Jesus?  Is  the  traitor 
Josephus,  or  the  pseudepigraph  IV.  Ezra  to  say  must  in 
an  interpretation  of  the  apostles?  Nay.  We  let  them 
speak  for  themselves,  and  if  we  are  to  choose  between  a 
variety  of  possible  interpretations  of  their  words  we 
prefer  to  let  higher  criticism  decide.  For  higher  criti- 
cism is  exact  and  thorough  in  its  methods  and  prefers 
the  internal  evidence  of  the  Old  Testament  books  them- 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  195 

selves  to  any  external  evidence.  This  may  bring  Jesus 
into  conflict  with  Josephus  and  the  rabbins  and  with 
traditional  theories;  but  it  is  more  likely  to  bring  Him 
into  harmony  with  Moses  and  the  prophets.  Prof.  B. 
Weiss  has  well  said  in  another  connection: 

"However  certainly,  therefore,  the  religious  ideas  of  later  Judaism, 
as  well  as  the  doctrines  of  Jewish  Theology,  had  an  influence  upon 
the  forming  of  the  religious  consciousness  as  it  is  exhibited  in  the 
writings  of  the  New  Testament,  our  knowledge  of  the  extent  in 
which  these  ideas  and  doctrines  lay  within  the  field  of  vision  of  the 
writers  of  the  New  Testament  is  far  from  being  precise  enough  to 
permit  us  to  start  from  them  in  ascertaining  that  religious  conscious- 
ness. It  is  only  in  the  rarest  cases  that  biblical  theology  will  be 
able  to  make  use  of  them  with  certainty  for  the  purpose  of  eluci- 
dation." * 

No  one  could  emphasize  the  importance  of  historical 
exegesis  more  than  we  are  disposed  to  do ;  but  we  can- 
not allow  traditionalists — who  are  the  last  to  use  this 
method  except  when,  for  the  time  being,  it  serves  their 
purposes — by  the  improper  use  of  it,  to  force  upon  crit- 
icism interpretations  that  are  possible  but  not  necessary, 
and  which  are  excluded  by  other  and  higher  considera- 
tions presented  by  the  word  of  God  as  contained  in  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament. 

It  has  been  a  common  literary  usage  for  centuries  to 
represent  a  book  as  speaking  by  the  name  by  which  it  is 
known,  whether  that  be  a  pseudonyme,  or  indicate  the 
subject  matter  or  the  author.  To  insist  that  it  must  al- 
ways in  the  New  Testament  indicate  authorship  is  to  go 
in  the  face  of  the  literary  usage  of  the  world,  and  against 
the  usage  of  the  New  Testament  itself,  certainly  in  the 
cases  of  Samuel  and  David  and,  therefore,  possibly  in 
other  cases  also,  such  as  Moses  and  Isaiah. 


*  Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Testament ,  T.  &  T.  Clark's  edition.     Edin., 
1S82,  I.,  p.  14. 


196  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

.  We  have  shown  that  the  questions  of  higher  criticism 
have  not  been  determined  for  us  by  the  ecclesiastical  au- 
thority of  creeds  or  the  consensus  of  tradition.  And  it 
is  a  merciful  Providence  that  this  has  not  been  the  case. 
For  it  would  have  committed  the  church  and  Christians 
to  many  errors  which  have  been  exposed  by  a  century 
of  progress  in  the  higher  criticism.  Those  who  still  insist 
upon  opposing  higher  criticism  with  traditional  views  and 
with  the  supposed  authority  of  Jesus  Christ  and  His  apos- 
tles, do  not  realize  the  perils  of  the  situation.  Are  they 
ready  to  risk  the  divinity  of  Christ,  the  authority  of 
the  Bible,  and  the  existence  of  the  church,  upon  their  in- 
terpretation of  the  words  of  Jesus  and  His  apostles? 
Do  they  not  see  that  they  throw  up  a  wall  that  will  pre- 
vent any  critic  who  is  an  unbeliever  from  ever  becoming 
a  believer  in  Christ  and  the  Bible  ?  They  would  force 
evangelical  critics  to  choose  between  truth  and  scholarly 
research  on  the  one  side,  and  Christ  and  tradition  on 
the  other.  The  issue  is  plain,  the  result  is  not  doubtful 
— the  obstructionists  will  gfive  way  in  this  matter  as 
they  have  already  in  so  many  other  matters.  The  Bible 
will  vindicate  itself  against  those  who,  like  the  friends  of 
Job,  have  not  spoken  right  concerning  God  (Job  xlii.  7), 
in  presuming  to  defend  Him. 

VI.  THE   RISE  OF  HIGHER  CRITICISM. 

The  current  critical  theories  are  the  resultants  of  forces 
at  work  in  the  church  since  the  Reformation.  These 
forces  have  advanced  steadily  and  constantly.  In  each 
successive  epoch  scholars  have  investigated  afresh  the 
sacred  records  and  brought  forth  treasures  new  as  well 
as  old.  Various  theories  have  been  proposed  from  time 
to  time  to  account  for  the  new  facts  that  have  been 
brought  to  light.     Biblical  science  has  shared  the  fortune 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  197 

of  the  entire  circle  of  the  sciences.  The  theories  have 
been  modified  or  discarded  under  the  influence  of  addi- 
tional investigations  and  the  discovery  of  new  facts  for 
which  they  could  not  account.  The  facts  have  remained 
in  every  case  as  a  permanent  acquisition  of  biblical  criti- 
cism, and  these  facts  have  gradually  accumulated  in  mass 
and  importance  until  they  now  command  the  services  of 
a  large  body  of  enthusiastic  investigators.  They  have 
gained  the  ear  of  the  literary  world  and  enlist  the  inter- 
est of  all  intelligent  persons.  The  questions  of  biblical 
criticism  have  arisen  to  a  position  among  the  great  issues 
of  our  time,  and  no  one  can  any  longer  ignore  them. 

All  great  movements  of  human  thought  have  their 
preliminary  and  initial  stages,  and  are  preceded  by  spas- 
modic efforts.  Even  the  enemies  of  the  true  faith  not  in- 
frequently become  the  providential  agents  for  calling  the 
church  to  a  fresh  investigation  of  the  sacred  oracles. 
Thus  Spinoza,  the  apostate  Jew  and  pantheistic  philos- 
opher, applied  historical  criticism  to  the  Old  Testament 
books,*  and  concluded  that  Moses  could  not  have  written 
the  Pentateuch,  and  that  the  historical  books  from  Gen- 
esis through  the  books  of  Kings  constitute  one  great 
historical  work,  a  conglomeration  of  many  different  orig- 
inals by  one  editor,  probably  Ezra,  who  does  not  suc- 
ceed in  a  reconciliation  of  differences,  and  a  complete 
and  harmonious  arrangement.  The  books  of  Chronicles 
he  places  in  the  Maccabean  period.  The  Psalms  were 
collected  and  divided  into  five  books  in  the  time  of  the 
second  temple.  The  book  of  Proverbs  was  collected  at  the 
earliest  in  the  time  of  Josiah.  The  prophetical  books  are 
collections  of  different  fragments  without  regard  to  their 
original  order.     Daniel,  Ezra,  Esther,  and  Nehemiah  are 


*  Tract.  Theo.  Folit.,  1670,  c.  8. 


198  BIBLICAi  STUDY. 

from  the  same  author,  who  would  continue  the  great  his- 
torical work  of  Israel  from  the  captivity  onwards,  writ- 
ten in  the  Maccabean  period.  Job  was  probably,  as 
Aben  Ezra  conjectured,  translated  into  Hebrew  from  a 
foreign  tongue.*  This  criticism  was  shrewd,  but  chiefly 
conjectural.  It  paved  the  way  for  future  systematic  in- 
vestigations. 

Soon  after  Spinoza,  Richard  Simon,f  a  Roman  Cath- 
olic, began  to  apply  historical  criticism  in .  a  systematic 
manner  to  the  study  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament. 
He  represented  the  historical  books  as  made  up  of  the 
ancient  writings  of  the  prophets,  who  were  public  scribes, 
and  wrote  down  the  history  in  official  documents  on  the 
spot,  from  the  time  of  Moses  onward,  so  that  the  Penta- 
teuch in  its  present  shape  is  not  by  Moses.  Simon  dis- 
tinguished in  the  Pentateuch  between  that  which  was 
written  by  Moses,  e.  g.,  the  commands  and  ordinances ; 
and  that  written  by  the  prophetical  scribes,  the  greater 
part  of  the  history.  As  the  books  of  Kings  and  Chron- 
icles were  made  up  by  abridgments  and  summaries  of 
the  ancient  acts  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  nation, 
so  was  the  Pentateuch  (p.  17,  seg.).  The  later  prophets 
edited  the  works  of  the  earlier  prophets  and  added  ex- 
planatory statements.  Simon  presents  as  evidences  that 
Moses  did  not  write  the  Pentateuch  :  (i)  The  double  ac- 
count of  the  deluge.  (2)  The  lack  of  order  in  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  narratives  and  laws.  (3)  The  diversity 
of  the  style.  The  Roman  Catholic  scholar  goes  deeper 
into  the  subject  than  the  Pantheist  Spinoza  has  gone. 
He  presents  another  class  of  evidences.  These  three 
lines  were  not  sufficiently  worked  by  Simon.     He  fell 


*  See  Siegfried,  Spinoza  als  Kritiker  und  Ausleger  des  Alten  Testament. 
Berlin,  1S67. 
t  Histoire  Critique  du  Vieux  Testament^  1678. 


THE  HIGnER  CRITICISM.  IQQ 

into  the  easy  temptation  of  expending  his  strength  on 
the  elaboration  and  justification  of  his  theory.  The 
facts  he  discovered  have  proved  of  permanent  value,  and 
have  been  worked  as  a  rich  mine  by  later  scholars,  but 
his  theory  was  at  once  attacked  and  destroyed.  The 
Arminian  Clericus,  in  an  anonymous  work,*  assailed  Si- 
mon for  his  abuse  of  Protestant  writers,  but  really  went 
to  greater  lengths  than  Simon.  He  distinguishes  in  the 
Pentateuch  three  classes  of  facts,  those  before  Moses, 
those  during  his  time,  and  those  subsequent  to  his  death ; 
and  represents  the  Pentateuch  in  its  present  form  as 
composed  by  the  priest  sent  from  Babylon  to  instruct 
the  inhabitants  of  Samaria  in  the  religion  of  the  land, 
2  Kings  xvii.f  Afterward  he  gave  up  this  wild  theory 
and  took  the  more  tenable  ground:}:  of  interpolations 
by  a  later  editor.  Anton  Van  Dale§  distinguishes  be- 
tween the  Mosaic  code  and  the  Pentateuch,  which  latter 
Ezra  composed  from  other  writings,  historical  and  pro- 
phetical, inserting  the  Mosaic  code  as  a  whole  in  his  work. 
This  is  also  essentially  the  view  of  Semler.|| 

These  various  writers  brought  to  light  a  most  valuable 
collection  of  facts  that  demanded  the  attention  of  bibli- 
cal scholars  of  all  creeds  and  phases  of  thought.  They 
all  made  the  mistake  of  proposing  untenable  theories  of 
various  kinds  to  account  for  the  facts,  instead  of  working 
upon  the  facts  and  rising  from  them  by  induction  and 
generalization   to   permanent  results.     Some  of   them, 


*  Sentimens  de  quelques  tJteologiens  de  Holland  sur  PHistoire  Crilique^ 
Amst.,  1685. 

tin/,  f.,  pp.  107,  129. 

X  Com.  on  Genesis,  introd.  de  Serif  tore  Pent.,  §  11.  Simon  replied  to  Cler- 
icus in  Reponse  au  Livre  intitule  Sentimens,  etc.  Par  Le  Prieur  de  Bolleville, 
Rotterdam,  16S6. 

§  De  ori^ne  et progressu  idol.,  1696,  p.  71,  and  cpist.  ad  Morin.,  p.  686. 

I  Apparatus  ad  liber alem  Vet.  Test.  Jnterp.,  1773,  p.  67. 


200    '  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

like  Spinoza,  were  animated  by  a  spirit  more  or  less  hos- 
tile to  the  evangelical  faith.  Others,  like  Clericus,  were 
heterodox  in  other  matters.  The  most  important  inves- 
tigations were  those  of  the  Roman  Catholics. 

Over  against  these  critical  attacks  on  the  traditional 
theories,  we  note  the  scholastic  defence  of  them  by  Huet, 
a  Jesuit ;  *  Heidegger,t  and  Carpzov.J  These  scholastic 
divines,  instead  of  seeking  to  account  for  the  facts 
brought  to  light  by  the  critics,  proceeded  to  defend  tra- 
ditional views  and  explain  away  the  facts. 

There  were,  however,  other  divines  who  looked  the  facts 
in  the  face  and  took  a  better  way.  Thus  Du  Pin  §  Wit- 
sius,||  Spanheim,^  Prideaux,**  Vitringa,f  f  and  Calmet,:|::f 
sought  to  explain  the  passages  objected  to  either  as  im- 
properly interpreted  or  as  interpolations,  recognizing  the 
use  of  several  documents  and  a  later  editorship  by 
Ezra  and  others.  They  laid  the  foundations  for  evan- 
gelical criticism,  which  was  about  to  begin  and  run  a 
long  and  successful  course. 

It  is  instructive  just  here  to  pause  by  Du  Pin,  who 
lays  down  such  admirable  rules  of  literary  criticism  §§ 
with  reference  to  ecclesiastical  books.  When  Simon 
raises  the  question  why  he  does  not  apply  these  rules  to 
the  Pentateuch,  he  replies  by  saying ; 

"  A  man  may  say,  that  all  these  rules  which  I  have  laid  down,  are 
convincing  and  probable  in  different  degrees,  but  that  the  sovereign 


*  In  his  Demonstratio  Evangelica,  1679,  IV.,  cap.  xiv. 
t  Exercitiones  £iblica^,  1700,  Dissert,  ix.  7. 

X  Introduction  ad  Libros  Canonicos  Bib.  Vet.  Test.     Edit,  ii.,  Lipsiffi,  1731. 
§  Dessert,  prelim.  Bib.  des  auteurs  eccL,  Paris,  1688.    A  new  History  0/  Ec- 
clesiastical Writers,  3d  edition,  London,  1696,  p.  i,  seq. 

I  Misc.  Sacra,  i6g2,  p.  103.  %  Historia  ecclesiast.  V.  T.,  I.,  p.  260. 

**  Old  and  New  Testaments  connected,  1716-18,   I.,  5  (3). 
+t  Ohserva.  Sacra.,  c  IV.,  2,  1722.  \X  Com.  litterale,  1722,  I.,  p.  xiii. 

§§  See  Chap.  IV.,  p.  88  seq.,  of  tliis  book. 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  '    £01 

and  principal  rule  is  the  judgment  of  equity  and  prudence,  which  in- 
structs us  to  ballance  the  reasons  of  this  and  t'other  side,  in  distinct- 
ly considering  the  conjectures  that  are  made  of  both  sides.  Now 
this  is  the  general  rule  of  Rational  Criticism,  and  we  abuse,  all  the 
rest  if  we  don't  chiefly  make  use  of  this  "  (in  I.e.,  p.  i8). 

In  thisVay  the  difference  between  Simon  and  himself 
was  easily  reduced  to  good  sense  and  nonsense.  This 
method  of  settling  difficult  questions  certainly  stops  de- 
bate between  the  parties  for  the  moment,  but  is  far  from 
convincing. 

Before  passing  over  to  the  higher  criticism  of  the 
Scriptures  we  shall  present  the  views  of  this  master  of 
the  literary  criticism  of  his  time,  respecting  the  biblical 
books : 

"  Moses  was  the  author  of  the  first  five  books  of  the  Pentateuch  " 

(except  sundry  interpolations) "  We   can't  so  certainly  tell 

who  are  the  authors  of  the  other  books  of  the  Bible:  some  of  'em 
we  only  know  by  conjecture,  and  others  there  are  of  which  we  have 
no  manner  of  knowledge."  .  .  .  .  "  The  time  wherein  Job  lived,  is 
yet  more  difficult  to  discover  ;  and  the  author  of  the  book,  who  has 
compiled  his  history,  is  no  less  unknown."  ....  "Though  the 
Psalms  are  commonly  called  the  Psalms  of  David,  or  rather  the 
Book  of  the  Psalms  of  David,  yet  'tis  certain,  as  St.  Jerom  has  ob- 
served in  many  places,  that  they  are  not  all  of  'em  his,  and  that  there 
are  some  of  them  written  long  after  his  death.  'Tis  therefore  a  col- 
lection of  songs  that  was  made  by  Ezrah."  .  .  .  .  "  The  Proverbs  or 
Parables  belong  to  Solomon,  whose  name  is  written  in  the  beginning 

of  that  book We  ought  therefore  to  conclude that  the 

24  first  chapters  are  Solomon's  originally,  that  the  five  following  ones 
are  extracts  or  collections  of  his  proverbs,  and  that  the  two  last 

chapters  were  added  afterwards The  book  of  Ecclesiastes  is 

ascribed  to  Solomon  by  all  antiquity :  And  yet  the  Talmudists 
have  made  Hezekiah  the  author  of  the  book,  and  Grotius,  upon  some 
slight  conjectures,  pretends  it  was  composed  by  Zerababel.  It  be- 
gins with  these  words.  The  Words  of  the  Prejcher,  the  Son  of  Da- 
vid, King  of  Jerusalem  ;  which  may  be  applied  to  Hezekiah  as  well 
as  to  Solomon  :  ....  we  ought  rather  to  understand  it  of  Soloraon. 
9* 


202 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


.  .  .  .The  Song  of  Songs is  allowed  to  be  Solomon's  by  the 

consent  of  the  synagogue  and  the  church.  The  Talmudists  attribute 
it  to  Ezrah,  but  without  grounds.  The  books  of  the  Prophets  carry 
the  names  of  their  authors  undisputed  "  (in  /.  c,  pp.  1-5). 

About  the  same  time  several  Roman  Catholic  divines, 
as  well  as  Vitringa,  took  ground  independentFy  in  favor 
of  the  theory  of  the  use  of  written  documents  by  Moses 
in  the  composition  of  Genesis.  So  Abb6  Fleury,*  and 
Abb6  Laurent  Francois ;  f  but  it  was  chiefly  Astruc,  a 
R.  C.  physician,  who  in  1753  t  made  it  evident  that 
Genesis  was  composed  of  several  documents.  He  pre- 
sented to  the  learned  world,  with  some  hesitation  and 
timidity,  his  discovery  that  the  use  of  the  divine  names, 
Elohim  zxid  Jehovah,  divided  the  book  of  Genesis  into  two 
great  memoirs  and  nine  lesser  ones. 

This  was  a  real  discovery,  which,  after  a  hundred  years 
of  debate,  has  at  last  won  the  consent  of  the  vast  major- 
ity of  biblical  scholars.  His  analysis  is  in  some  respects 
too  mechanical,  and,  in  not  a  few  instances,  is  defective 
and  needed  rectification,  but  as  a  whole  it  has  been  main- 
tained. He  relies  also  too  much  upon  the  different  use 
of  the  divine  names,  and  too  little  upon  variations^  in  ■ 
istyle,  language,  and  narrative.  The  attention  of  Ger- 
man scholars  was  called  to  this  discovery  by  Jerusalem.§ 
Eichhorn  was  independently  led  to  the  same  conclu- 
sion.!    But  still  more  important  than  the  work  of  As- 


*  Moeurs  des  Israelites,  p.  6,  Bruxelles,  1701.     This  was  translated  into  Eng;- 
lish  and  enlarged  by  Adam  Clarke.    3d  edition,  1809. 

+  Preuves  de  la  Religion  de  Jesus  Christ,  contra  les  Spinosistes  et  les  De- 
istes,  1751,  I.  2,  c.  3,  art.  7. 

X  In  his  Conjectures  sur  les  Memoires  originaux  dont  il  paroit  que  Moyst 
s'est  servi  pour  le  livre  de  la  Genlse. 

%  In  his  Brief e  ilber  d.  Mosaiscken  Schri/ten,  ildiz,  3te  Aufl.,  1783,  p.  104, 
tcq. 
.   I  Urgeschichte  in  the  Repertorium,  T.  iv.,  1779,  especially  T.  v.,  1779. 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  203 

true  was  that  of  Bishop  Lowth,*  who  unfolded  the  prin- 
ciples of  parallelism  in  Hebrew  poetry,  and  made  it  pos- 
sible to  study  the  Old  Testament  as  literature,  discrim- 
inating poetry  from  prose,  and  showing  that  the  greater 
part  of  prophecy  is  poetical.  His  work  on  Hebrew  po- 
etry was  issued  in  Germany  by  Michaelis,  and  his  trans- 
lation of  Isaiah  by  Koppe,  who  took  the  position  that 
this  prophetical  book  was  made  up  of  a  number  of  docu- 
ments loosely  put  together  from  different  authors  and 
different  periods.f  Lowth  himself  did  not  realize  the 
importance  of  this  discovery  for  the  literary  criticism 
of  the  Scriptures,  but  thought  that  it  would  prove  of 
great  service  to  textual  criticism  in  the  suggesting  of 
emendations  of  the  text. in  accordance  with  the  parallel- 
ism of  members. 

The  poet  Herder:}:  first  caught  the  Oriental  spirit  and 
life  and  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  learned  the  va- 
ried literary  beauties  of  the  Bible,§  and  "  reconquered,  so 
to  say,  the  Old  Testament  for  German  literature."  || 

But  these  writers  were  all  preparatory  to  the  work  of 
J.  G.  Eichhorn,  in  i/So.^^     Eichhorn  combined  in   one 


*\n  De  Sacra  Poesi  Hebrceorunt,  1753,  and  1779  in  Prelim.  Diss,  and  Traits- 
lation  o/the  Prophecies  0/  Isaiah. 

t  Kopp>e,  Robert  Lawth\s  yeiaias  neu  Hbersctzt  nebst  einer  Einleitung  .... 
mit  Zusatze  und  Anmerkungen,  4  Bde.,  Leipzig,  1779-80. 

\  In  1780  he  published  his  Briefe  fiber  das  Studium  der  Theologie,  and  in 
1782  his  Geist  der  Heb.  Foesie. 

§  Herder  in  his  ist  Brie/ sa.ys  :  "  Richard  Simon  is  the  Father  of  the  Criticism 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  in  recent  times." — "A  Critical  Introduction  to 
the  Old  Testament,  as  it  ought  to  be,  we  have  not  yet."  1780.  In  2d  Auf., 
1785.  It  is  said  on  the  margin,  "We  have  it  now  in  Eichhorn's  valuable  Pin- 
leit.  ins  Alt.  Test.,  1780-83." 

j  Dorner  in  yohnson's  Encyclopadia,  II.,  p.  528. 

1]  Einleit.  ins  Alt.  Test.  As  Bertheau  remarks  in  Herzog's  Real  Ency.,  I. 
Aufl.,  iv.,  115:  "In  Eichhorn's  writings  the  ap>ologetic  interest  is  everywhere 
manifest,  to^  explain,  as  he  expresses  it,  the  Bible  according  to  the  ideas  and 
methods  of  thought  of  the  ancient  world,  and  to  defend  it  against  the  scorn  of 
the  enemies  of  the  Bible.     He  recognized  the  e:cact  problem  of  his  times  clearer 


204  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

the  results  of  Simon  and  Astruc,  Lowth  and  Herder, 
embracing  the  various  elements  in  an  organic  method 
which  he  called  the  Higher  Criticism.  In  the  preface  to 
his  second  edition,  1787,  he  says  : 

"  I  am  obliged  to  give  the  most  pains  to  a  hitherto  entirely  un- 
worked  field,  the  investigation  of  the  internal  condition  of  the  par- 
ticular writings  of  the  Old  Testament  by  help  of  the  Higher  Criti- 
cism (a  new  name  to  no  Humanist).  Let  any  one  think  what  they 
will  of  these  efforts,  my  own  consciousness  tells  me  that  they  are  the 
result  of  very  careful  investigation,  although  no  one  can  be  less  wrapt 
up  in  them  than  I  their  author.  The  powers  of  one  man  hardly  suf- 
fice to  complete  such  investigations  so  entirely  at  once.  They  de- 
mand a  healthful  and  ever-cheerful  spirit,  and  how  long  can  any  one 
maintain  it  in  such  toilsome  investigations  ?  They  demand  the  keen- 
est insight  into  the  internal  condition  of  every  book ;  and  who  will 
not  be  dulled  after  a  while  }  " 

He  begins  his  investigation  of  the  books  of  Moses 
with  the  wise  statement : 

"Whether  early  or  late  ?  That  can  be  learned  only  from  the  writ- 
ings themselves.  And  if  they  are  not  by  their  own  contents  or  other 
internal  characteristic  traces  put  down  into  a  later  century  than  they 
ascribe  to  themselves  or  Tradition  assigns  them,  then  a  critical  in- 
vestigator must  not  presume  to  doubt  their  own  testimony — else  he 
is  a  contemptible  Rasonneur,  a  doubter  in  the  camp,  and  no  longer 
an  historical  investigator.  According  to  this  plan  I,  shall  test  the 
most  ancient  Hebrew  writings,  not  troubling  myself  what  the  result 
of  this  investigation  maybe.  And  if  therewith  learning,  shrewdness, 
and  other  qualifications  which  I  desire  for  this  work  should  fail  me, 
yet,  certainly  no  one  will  find  lacking  love  of  the  truth  and  strict  in- 
vestigation." 


than  most  of  his  contemporaries ;  he  worked  with  unwearied  diligence  over  the 
whole  field  of  Biblical  literature  with  his  own  independent  powers ;  he  paved 
the  way  to  difiScult  investigations;  he  undertook  many  enterprises  vnih  good 
success,  and  conducted  not  a  few  of  them  to  safe  results.  With  Herder  in 
common  he  has  the  credit  of  having  awakened  in  wide  circles  love  to  the  Bible, 
and  especially  the  Old  Testament  writings,  and  excited  enthusiasm  carefully  to 
ipvestigate  then}." 


TUE  HIGUER  CRITICISM.  205 

These  are  the  principles  and  methods  of  a  true  and 
manly  scholar,  the  father  of  higher  criticism.  It  is  a  sad 
reflection  that  they  have  been  so  greatly  and  generally 
ignored  on  the  scholastic  and  rationalistic  sides.  Eich- 
horn  separates  the  Elohistic  and  Jehovistic  documents 
in  Genesis  with  great  pains,  and  with  such  success  that 
his  analysis  has  been  the  basis  of  all  critical  investiga- 
tion since  his  day.  Its  great  advantages  are  admirably 
stated  : 

"  For  this  discovery  of  the  internal  condition  of  the  first  books  of 
Moses,  party  spirit  will-  perhaps  for  a  pair  of  decennials  snort  at  the 
Higher  Criticism  instead  of  rewarding  it  with  the  full  thanks  that  arc 
due  it,  for  (i;  the  credibility  of  the  book  gains  by  such  a  use  of  more 
ancient  documents.  (2)  The  harmony  of  the  two  narratives  at  the 
same  time  with  their  slight  deviations  proves  their  independence  and 
mutual  reliability.  (3)  Interpreters  will  be  relieved  of  difficulty  by 
this  Higher  Criticism  which  separates  document  from  document. 
(4)  Finally  the  gain  of  Criticism  is  also  great.  If  the  Higher  Criti- 
cism has  now  for  the  first  distinguished  author  from  author,  and  in 
general  characterized  each  according  to  his  own  ways,  diction,  fav- 
orite expressions,  and  other  peculiarities,  then  her  lower  sister  who 
busies  herself  only  with  words,  and  spies  out  false  readings,  has 
rules  and  principles  by  which  she  must  test  particular  readings."* 

Eichhorn  carried  his  methods  of  higher  criticism  into 
the  entire  Old  Testament  with  the  hand  of  a  master, 
and  laid  the  foundation  of  views  that  have  been  main- 
tained ever  since  with  increasing  determination.  He 
did  not  always  grasp  the  truth.  He  sometimes  chased 
shadows,  and  framed  visionary  theories  both  in  relation 


*  In  /.  c,  II.,  p.  329;  see  also  Urgeschichte  in  Repertorium,  1770,  V.,  p. 
187.  We  cannot  help  calling:  attention  to  the  fine  literary  sense  of  Eichhorn  as 
manifest  in  the  following  extract :  "  Read  it  (Genesis)  as  two  historical  works  of 
antiquity,  and  breathe  thereby  the  atmosphere  of  its  age  and  country.  Forget 
then  the  century  in  which  thou  livest  and  the  knowledge  it  affords  thee  ;  and  if 
thou  canst  not  do  this,  dream  not  that  thou  wilt  be  able  to  enjoy  the  book  in 
the  spirit  of  its  origin," 


206  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

to  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  like  others  who  have 
preceded  him  and  followed  him.  He  could  not  tran- 
scend  the  limits  of  his  age,  and  adapt  himself  to  future 
discoveries.  The  labors  of  a  large  number  of  scholars, 
and  the  work  of  a  century  and  more,  were  still  needed, 
as  Eichhorn  modestly  anticipated. 

These  discussions  produced  little  impression  upon 
Great  Britain.  The  conflict  with  deism  had  forced  the 
majority  of  her  divines  into  a  false  position.  If  they 
had  maintained  the  Jides  divina  and  the  critical  position 
of  the  reformers  and  Westminster  divines,  they  would 
not  have  hesitated  to  look  the  facts  in  the  face,  and 
strive  to  account  for  them  ;  they  would  not  have  com- 
mitted the  grave  mistakes  by  which  biblical  learning 
was  almost  paralyzed  in  Great  Britain  for  half  a  century.* 
Eager  for  the  defence  of  traditional  views,  they,  for  the 
most  part,  fell  back  again  on  Jewish  rabbinical  authority 
and  external  evidence,  contending  with  painful  anxiety 
for  authors  and  dates,  and  so  antagonized  higher  criti- 
cism itself  as  deistic  criticism  and  rationalistic  criticism, 
not  discriminating  between  those  who  were  attacking 
the  Scriptures  in  order  to  destroy  them,  and  those  who 
were  searching  the  Scriptures  in  order  to  defend  them. 
It  is  true  that  the  humanist  and  the  purely  literary  in- 
terest prevailed  in  Eichhorn  and  his  school ;  they  failed 
to  apply  the  fides  divina  of  the  reformers,  but  this  was 
lacking  to  the  scholastics  also,  and  so  unhappily  tradi- 
tional dogmatism  and  rationalistic  criticism  combined  to 
crush  evangelical  criticism. 


*  Mozley  in  his  Reminiscences,  1882,  Am.  edit.,  Vol.  IL,  p.  41,  says :  "  There 
•was  hardly  such  a  thing  as  Biblical  Criticism  in  this  country  at  the  beginning  of 
this  century.  Poole's  Synopsis  contained  all  that  an  ordinary  clergyman  could 
wish  to  know.  Arnold  is  described  as  in  all  his  glory  at  Rugby,  with  Poole's 
Synopsis  on  one  side,  and  Facciolati  on  the  other." 


THE  HIGHEK  CRITICISM.  207 

VII.    THE    HIGHER    CRITICISM    OF     THE    NINETEENTH 

CENTURY. 

There  is  a  notable  exception  to  the  absence  of  the 
critical  spirit  in  Great  Britain,  and  that  exception  proves 
the  rule.  In  1792  Dr.  Alexander  Geddes,  a  Roman 
Catholic  divine,  proposed  what  has  been  called  the  frag- 
mentary hypothesis  to  account  for  the  structure  of  the 
Pentateuch  and  Joshua.'^  But  this  radical  theory  found- 
no  hospitality  in  Great  Britain.  It  passed  over  into 
Germany  through  Vater,f  and  there  entered  into  conflict 
with  the  documentary  hypothesis  of  the  school  of  Eich- 
horn.  Koppe  had  proposed  the  fragmentary  hypothesis 
to  account  for  the  literary  features  of  the  book  of  Isaiah 
(see  p.  203),  and  so  it  was  extended  to  other  books  of  the 
Bible.  -Eichhorn  had  applied  the  documentary  hypoth- 
esis to  the  gospels,  Isaiah,  and  other  parts  of  Scripture. 
The  first  stadium  of  the  higher  criticism  is  characterized 
by  the  conflict  of  the  documentary  and  fragmentary  hy- 
potheses along  the  whole  line.  The  result  of  this  dis- 
cussion was  that  the  great  variety  of  the  elements  that 
constitute  our  Bible  became  more  and  more  manifest, 
and  the  problem  was  forced  upon  the  critics  to  account 
for  their  combination. 

De  Wette:}:  introduced  the  second  stadium  of  the 
higher  criticism  by  calling  the  attention  of  the  critics  to 


*  The  Holy  Bible ;  or,  the  books  accounted  sacred  by  yews  and  Christians^ 
etc.     London,  I.,  p.  xviii.,  seq. 

t  Commentar  Uber  den  Pentateuch  mit  Einleitungen  zu  den  einxelnen  Ab~ 
schnitten  der  eingeschalteten  von  Dr.  Alex.  Geddes''  merkwitrdigeren  kritischen 
und  excgetischen  Anmerkungen,  etc.     Halle,  1805. 

\  Kritik  der  isrculitischen  Geschichte,  Halle,  1807 ;  Beitrage  zur  Einleit. 
1806-7  ;  Lehrb.  d.  hist.  krit.  Einleit.  in  d.  Bibel  Alien  und  Neuen  Testaments^ 
Berlin,  1817-26. 


208  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

the  genesis  of  the  documents.*  Gesenius  supported 
him,f  and  sharply  opposed  the  fragmentary  hypothesis 
of  Koppe,  and  strove  to  account  for  the  genesis  of  the 
documents  of  Isaiah  and  their  combination.  Other  crit- 
ics in  great  numbers  worked  in  the  same  direction,  such 
as  B!  :cl-c,  Ewald,  Knobel,  Hupfeld,  and  produced  a  great 
mass  of  historical  and  critical  work  upon  all  parts  of  the 
Old  Testament.  The  same  problems  were  discussed  in 
the  New  Testament,  especially  with  reference  to  the 
gospels,  the  order  of  their  production,  and  their  int*- 
relation.:}:  A  great  number  of  different  theories  were 
advanced  to  account  for  the  genesis  of  the  different 
books  of  the  Bible.  The  result  of  the  conflict  has  been 
the  conviction  on  the  part  of  most  critics  that  the  unity 
of  the  writings  in  the  midst  of  the  variety  of  docu- 
ments, has  been  accomplished  by  careful  and  skilful 
editing  at  different  periods  of  biblical  history. 

It  became  more  and  more  evident  that  the  problems 
were  assuming  larger  dimensions  and  that  they  could  not 
be  solved  until  the  several  edited  writings  were  compared 
with  one  another  and  considered  in  their  relation  to  the 
development  of  the  biblical  religion.  The  higher  criti- 
cism thus  entered  upon  a  third  stadium  of  its  history. 
This  stadium  was  opened  for  the  New  Testament  by  the 
Tubingen  school,  and  for  the  Old  Testament  by  the 
school  of  Reuss.  These  entered  into  conflict  with  the 
older  views  and  soon  showed  their  insufficiency  to  ac- 
count for  the  larger  problems.  They  reconstructed  the 
biblical  writings  upon  purely  naturalistic  principles,  so 


*  See  author's  article  A  Critical  Study  of  the  History  of  the  Higher  Criti' 
cistn,  Tvit/t  special  reference  to  the  Pentateuch^  Presbyterian  Reveiw,  IV.,  p.  94, 
seq. 

t  Com.  H.  d.  jfesaia,  Leipzig,  1821. 

X  See  Weiss,  Leben  yesu,  I,,  p.  30,  seq. 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  £09 

emphasizing  differences  as  to  make  them  irreconcilable, 
and  explaining  the  development  in  biblical  history  and 
religion  and  literature,  by  the  theory  of  antagonistic 
forces  struggling  for  the  mastery.  These  critics  were 
successfully  opposed  by  the  schools  of  Neander,  Hof- 
mann,  and  Evvald,  and  have  been  overcome  in  the  New 
Testament  by  the  principle  of  diversity  of  views  com- 
bining in  a  higher  unity.  The  same  principle  will  over- 
come them  in  the  Old  Testament  likewise,  so  soon  as 
evangelical  critics  learn  to  apply  it.* 

The  higher  criticism  during  the  first  and  second 
stadia  of  its  development  in  Germany  made  little  impres- 
sion upon  Great  Britain  and  America.  In  1818  T.  Hart- 
well  Home  issued  his  Introduction  to  the  Critical  Study 
and  Knotvledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,^  which  has  been 
highly  esteemed  for  its  many  excellent  qualities  by 
several  generations  of  students.  His  statement  in 
the  preface  to  the  second  edition  of  his  work  shows 
how  far  Great  Britain  was  behind  the  continent  at  that 
time :  "  It  (the  work)  originated  in  the  author's  own 
wants  many  years  since  ....  when  he  stood  in  need 

of  a  guide  to  the  reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 

At  this  time  the  author  had  no  friend  to  assist  his 
studies; — or  remove  his  doubts, — nor  any  means  of  pro- 
curing critical  works.  At  length  a  list  of  the  more  emi- 
nent foreign  Biblical  critics  fell  into  his  hands,  and  di- 
rected him  to  some  of  the  sources  of  information  which 
he  was  seeking ;  he  then  resolved  to  procure  such  of 
them  as  his  lim.ited  means  would  permit,  with  the  design 
in  the  first  instance  of  satisfying  his  own  mind  on  those 


*  See  author's  article  Critical  Study  of  the  Higher  Criticism,  etc.,  Preshy- 
terian  Review,  IV.,  p.  io6,  seq.  ;  also  Chap.  VIII.,  p.  225  ;  Chap.  XL,  p.  387  of 
this  book. 

+  It  passed  through  many  editions,  4th,  1823  ;  loth,  1S56. 


210  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

topics  which  had  perplexed  him,  and  ultimately  of  laying 
before  the  Public  the  results  of  his  inquiries,  should  no 
treatise  appear  that  might  supersede  such  a  publication." 
This  dependence  of  Great  Britain  and  America  on  the 
biblical  scholarship  of  the  continent  continued  until  the 
second  half  of  our  century.  Most  students  of  the  Bible 
contented  themselves  with  more  or  less  modified  forms 
of  traditional  theories.  Some  few  scholars  made  occa- 
sional and  cautious  use  of  German  criticism.  Moses 
Stuart,  Edward  Robinson,  S.  H.  Turner,  Addison  Alex- 
ander, Samuel  Davidson,  and  others  depended  chiefly 
upon  German  works  which  they  translated  or  reproduced. 
At  last  the  Anglo-Saxon  world  was  roused  from  its  un- 
critical condition  by  the  attacks  of  Bishop  Colenso,  on 
the  historical  character  of  the  Pentateuch  and  book  of 
Joshua,  and  by  a  number  of  scholars  representing  free 
thought  in  the  "  Essays  and  Reviews."  *  These  writers 
fell  back  on  the  older  deistic  objections  to  the  Pentateuch 
as  history,  and  as  containing  a  supernatural  religion,  and 
mingled  therewith  a  reproduction  of  German  thought, 
chiefly  through  Bunsen.  They  magnified  the  discrep- 
ancies in  the  narratives  and  legislation,  and  attacked  the 
supernatural  element,  but  added  nothing  to  the  sober 
higher  criticism  of  the  Scriptures.  So  far  as  they  took 
position  on  this  subject  they  fell  into  line  with  the  more 
radical  element  of  the  school  of  De  Wette.  They  called 
the  attention  of  British  and  American  scholars  away 
from  the  literary  study  of  the  Bible  and  the  true  work  of 
the  higher  criticism,  to  a  defence  of  the  supernatural, 
and  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible.  They  were  successfully 
attacked  by  several  divines  in  Great  Britain  and  Amer- 


*  The  Pentateuch  and  Book  of  Joshua  critically  examined.  Part  i.-vii.,  iS6a- 
79 ;  Recent  Inquiries  in  Theology  by  eminent  English  Churchmen ,  being  Essays 
and  Reviews,  4th  Am.  edition  from  2d  London,  1862. 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  211 

ica.*  The  work  of  -Colenso  had  little  support  in  Great 
Britain  or  America  at  the  time,  but  it  made  a  great  im- 
pression upon  the  Dutch  scholar,  Kuenen,  who  had  al- 
ready advanced  to  the  most  radical  positions.  Through 
Kuenen's  influence  it  has,  however,  again  come  into  no- 
tice.f 

It  is  only  within  a  few  years  that  any  general  interest 
in  matters  of  the  higher  criticism  has  been  shown  in 
Great  Britain  or  America.  This  has  been  due  chiefly  in 
Great  Britain  to  the  influence  of  Bishop  Lightfoot  :j:  and 
Dr.  W.  Robertson  Smith,§  and  in  the  United  States  to 
the  discussions  of  the  higher  criticism  in  the  Presbyterian 
Review,  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Bib- 
lical Literature  and  Exegesis,  and  other  periodicals. 
The  ground  had,  in  part,  been  prepared  for  these  discus- 
sions by  the  translation  of  many  of  the  most  important 
foreign  works  of  criticism,  and  their  publication,  especial- 
ly by  T.  &  T.  Clark,  of  Edinburgh,  the  Foreign  Transla- 
tion Fund  Society,  and  others.  Starting  in  the  churches 
of  England  and  France,  the  higher  criticism  was  not  de- 
veloped in  the  lands  of  its  birth,  but  passed  over  into 
Lutheran  Germany  and  Reformed  Switzerland  to  the 
headwaters  of  the  Reformation,  to  attach  itself  to  the 


*  Among  these  we  may  mention  the  authors  of  Aids  to  Faith,  being  a  reply 
to  '■'■Essays  and  Reviews"  American  edition,  1S62  ;  W.  H.  Green,  The  Pent  a- 
teuch  vindicated  from  the  Aspersions  of  Bishop  Colenso,  N.  Y.,  1S63. 

t  Godsdienst  van  Israel,  1869-70,  the  Enghsh  edition.  Religion  of  Israel, 
1S74  ;  De  vijf  Boeken  van  Mazes,  1872 ;  De  Profeten  en  de  profetieon  e'er  Israel, 
1875,  translated  into  English,  The  Prophets  and  Prophecy  in  Israel,  1S77,  and 
numerous  articles  in  Theo'.ogisch.  Tijdsckrift  since  that  time,  and  last  of  all, 
Hibbert  Lectures,  National  Religions  and  Universal  Religioru,  1S82.  Kuen- 
en's views  are  presented  in  a  popular  form  in  the  Bible  for  Learners,  3  vols., 
18S0. 

X  Articles  in  the  Contemporary  Review,  against  the  author  of  Supernatural 
Religion,  xxv.  and  xxvi. 

§  The  Old  Testament  in  the  Jevjish  Church,  1881 ;  The  Prophets  of  Israel^ 
1882. 


212  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

principles  of  the  Reformation  after  a  hard  and  long 
struggle  with  rationalism,  atheism,  and  pantheism. 

In  its  historic  unfolding  in  Germany  and  Switzerland 
in  the  nineteenth  century,  we  observe  that  biblical  crit- 
icism is  represented  by  three  antagonistic  parties  :  scho- 
lastic critics,  evangelical  critics,  and  rationalistic  critics. 
That  the  discussion  has  until  recently  been  chiefly  con- 
fined to  the  continent  of  Europe  and  foreign  tongues, 
may  account  for  the  prejudice  against  it  in  Great  Brit- 
ain and  America  during  the  long  neglect  of  biblical  studies 
and  the  almost  exclusive  attention  to  the  discussion  of 
dogmas  and  the  practical  work  of  the  church.  But  the 
renewed  attention  to  biblical  studies  in  Great  Britain 
and  America  has  brought  us  face  to  face  with  the  critical 
theories  of  Germany,  Holland,  and  Switzerland,  and  the 
question  arises  how  to  meet  them.  Shall  it  be  with  dog- 
matic opposition  to  criticism  altogether?  This  would 
be  unreasonable,  unhistoric,  and  unprotestant.  Or  shall 
we  not  rather  take  our  stand  with  the  evangelical  critics 
of  Europe  against  the  rationalistic  critics,  and  conquer 
the  latter  by  a  more  profound  critical  interpretation  of 
the  literature,  the  history,  and  the  religion  of  the  Bible  ? 

We  should  not  allow  ourselves  to  be  influenced  by  the 
circumstance  that  the  majority  of  the  scholars  who  have 
been  engaged  in  these  researches  have  been  rationalistic 
or  semi-rationalistic  in  their  religious  opinions ;  and  that 
they  have  employed  the  methods  and  styles  peculiar  to 
the  German  scholarship  of  our  century.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  motives  and  influences  that  led  to  these 
investigations,  the  questions  we  have  to  determine  are: 
(i)  what  are  the  facts  of  the  case?  and  (2)  do  the  theo- 
ries account  for  the  facts? 

We  have  thus  far  been,  at  the  best,  spectators  of  the 
battle  that  has  raged  on  the  continent  of  Europe  over 


THE  HIGHER  CRITICISM.  213 

the  biblical  books.  The  Providence  of  God  now  calls  us 
to  take  part  in  the  conflict.  Our  Anglo-American  schol- 
ars are  but  poorly  equipped  for  the  struggle.  We  should 
prepare  ourselves  at  once.  We  should  give  our  imme- 
diate attention  to  the  history  of  this  great  movement, 
the  stadia  through  which  it  has  passed,  and  the  present 
state  of  the  question,  in  order  that  as  soon  as  possible 
our  scholars  may  attain  the  highest  marks  reached  by 
our  foreign  brethren  and  advance  to  still  greater  achieve- 
ments. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

LITERARY  STUDY  OF  THE   BIBLE. 

The  sacred  Scriptures  are  composed  of  a  great  variety 
of  literary  products,  the  results  of  the  thinking,  feeling, 
and  acting  of  God's  people  in  many  generations.  Though 
guided  by  the  Divine  Spirit  so  as  to  give  one  divine  rev- 
elation in  continuous  historical  development,  they  yet, 
as  literary  productions,  assume  various  literary  styles  in 
accordance  with  the  culture,  taste,  and  capacity  of  their 
authors  in  the  different  periods  of  their  composition. 
Especially  is  this  true  of  the  Old  Testament,  which 
contains  the  sacred  literature  of  the  Hebrews  through  a 
long  period  of  literary  development.  For  their  proper 
interpretation,  therefore,  we  need  not  only  the  relig- 
ious spirit  that  can  enter  into"  sympathetic  relations  with 
the  authors,  and  through  vital  union  with  the  Divine 
Spirit  interpret  them  from  their  inmost  soul ;  we  need 
not  only  training  in  grammar  and  logic  to  understand 
the  true  contents  of  their  language  and  the  drift  of  their 
discourse  ;  we  need  not  only  a  knowledge  of  the  archae- 
ology, geography,  and  history  of  the  people,  that  we 
may  enter  into  the  atmosphere  and  scenery  of  their  life 
and  its  expression  ;  we  need  not  only  a  knowledge  of  the 
laws,  doctrines,  and  institutions  in  which  the  authors 
were  reared,  and  which  constituted  the  necessary  grooves 
of  their  religious  culture*  but  in  addition  to  all  these 
^214)  ' 


LITER  AEY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  215 

we  need  also  a  literary  training,  an  cBsthetic  culture,  in 
order  that  by  a  true  literary  sense,  and  a  sensitive  and 
refined  aesthetic  taste,  we  may  discriminate  poetry  from 
prose,  fact  from  fiction,  the  bare  truth  from  its  artistic 
dress  and  decoration,  the  fruit  of  reasoning  from  the 
products  of  the  imagination  and  fancy. 

Every  race  and  nation  has  its  peculiarities  of  literary 
culture  and  style,  so  that  while  the  study  of  the  best  lit- 
erary models  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  modern 
European  languages,  may  be  necessary  to  develop  the 
best  literary  taste ;  yet  in  entering  upon  the  study  of 
Hebrew  literature  we  come  into  a  field  that  was  not  in- 
fluenced at  all  by  any  of  these, — to  the  literature  of  a 
race  radically  different  from  all  the  families  of  the  Indo- 
Germanic  race — one  which  declines  to  be  judged  by  the 
standards  of  strangers  and  foreigners,  but  requires  an 
independent  study  in  connection  with  the  literature  of 
its  own  sisters,  especially  the  Arabic,  Syriac,  and  Assyr- 
ian. A  special  training  in  these  literatures  is,  therefore, 
necessary  in  order  to  the  proper  estimation  of  the  He- 
brew literature ;  and  criticism  from  the  point  of  view  of 
our  ordinary  classic  literary  culture  alone  is  unfair  and 
misleading.'  And  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no  one  can  thor- 
oughly understand  the  Greek  New  Testament  who  has 
not  made  himself  familiar  with  the  Old  Testament  liter- 
ature, upon  which  it  is  based.  The  student  must  enter 
into  sympathetic  relations  with  the  spirit  and  life  of  the 
Orient  that  pervades  it. 

The  literary  study  of  the  Bible  is  essentially  the  higher 
criticism  of  the  Bible.  A  reader  may  enjoy  the  literary' 
features  of  Shakespeare,  Milton,  and  Homer  without  him- 
self taking  part  in  critical  work,  but  consciously  or  un- 
consciously he  is  dependent  upon  the  literary  criticism 
of  experts,  who  have  given  him  the  results  of  their  la- 


216  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

bors  upon  these  authors.  So  is  it  with  the  Bible :  the 
ordinary  reader  may  enjoy  it  as  literature  without  being 
a  critic — but  the  labors  of  critics  are  necessary  in  order 
that  the  Bible  may  be  presented  to  him  in  its  proper 
literary  character  and  forms.  Biblical  literature  has  the 
same  problems  to  solve,  and  the  same  methods  and  prin- 
ciples for  their  solution,  as  have  been  employed  in  other 
departments  of  the  world's  literature  (p.  87  seg.)  It  has 
to  determine  the  integrity,  authenticity,  literary  form, 
and  credibility  of  the  writings. 

I.   THE  INTEGRITY  OF  THE   SCRIPTURES. 

The  first  questions  with  reference  to  a  writing  are : 
is  it  the  product  of  one  mind  as  an  organic  whole 
or  composed  of  several  pieces  of  the  same  author;  or 
is  it  a  collection  of  writings  by  different  authors?  Has 
it  retained  its  original  integrity  or  has  it  been  inl:erpoIa- 
ted  ?  May  the  interpolations  be  discriminated  from  the 
original  ?  * 

The  twelve  minor  prophets  are  regarded  as  one  book 
in  most  of  the  ancient  Jewish  and  Christian  catalogues. 
The  Baba  Bathra  represents  them  as  edited  by  the  men 
of  the  great  synagogue  after  the  exile  (p.  176).  This  is 
a  conjecture  without  historical  evidence.  These  proph- 
ets in  modern  times  have  ordinarily  been  treated  sepa- 
rately and  their  original  combination  to  a  great  extent 
forgotten.  Each  one  of  them  may  be  tested  as  to  its 
integrity.  The  only  one  about  which  there  has  been  any 
general  questioning,  is  Zechariah.  The  earlier  doubts 
were  based  upon  Matt,  xxvii.  9,  which  ascribes  Zech.  xi. 


*  For  general  statements  of  the  problems  of  higher  criticism  in  our  time,  see 
Hermann  Strack  and  L.  Schulze,  in  Zockler,  Handbuch  d.  theologischen  Wis- 
senscha/ten,  I.,  1882,  pp.  135,  seq.^  382  seq. ;  also,  S.  I.  Curtissand  H.  M.  Scott, 
in  Current  Discussions  in  Theology^  Chicago,  1883,  p.  26  seq. 


LITERARY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  217 

12-13  to  Jeremiah  (p.  169).  If  that  passage  be  free  from 
error,  the  section  of  Zechariah  in  which  the  citation  is 
contained  must  be  separated  from  that  prophet  and  at- 
tached to  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah.  It  is  now  gener- 
ally conceded  that  this  cannot  be  done,  and  that  the 
evangeHst  has  made  a  sHp  of  memory  in  citation. 

The  integrity  of  Zechariah  has  been  disputed  in  recent 
times  from  literary  grounds.  Many  scholars  of  the 
present  day  attribute  the  second  half  to  one  or  more 
pre-exilic  prophets.  .  Others,  as  Wright*  and  Delitzsch,f 
still  maintain  the  integrity  of  the  book.  The  book  of 
Proverbs  is  represented  by  the  Baba  Bathra  (p*  176)  as 
edited  by  the  college  of  Hezekiah.  This  is  based  upon 
a  conjecture  founded  on  Proverbs  xxv.  i.  It  has  also 
been  held  that  it  was  edited  by  Solomon  himself,  and, 
indeed,  that  Solomon  was  the  author  of  the  whole.  It 
is  now  generally  agreed  that  the  book  is  made  up  of 
several  collections,  and  that  it  has  passed  through  the 
hands  of  a  number  of  editors  at  different  times.;}:  The 
Psalter  is  composed  of  150  Psalms  in  5  Books.  The 
Baba  Bathra  (p.  176)  makes  David  the  editor,  and  states 
that  he  used  with  his  own  Psalms  those  of  ten  ancient 
worthies.  It  has  been  held  by  some  that  David  wrote 
all  the  Psalms  (p.  188).  Calvin,  Du  Pin,  and  others  make 
Ezra  the  editor  (p.  201).  It  is  now  generally  agreed  that 
the  psalm-book  is  made  up  of  a  number  of  collections, 
and,  like  the  book  of  Proverbs,  has  passed  through  a 
number  of  editings.  Some  have  thought  it  to  be  the 
psalm-book  of  the  first  temple.    Others,  and  indeed  most 


*  Zechariah  and  Ms  Prophecies,  considered  in  relation  to  Modern  Criticism, 
Hampton  Lectures,  1878,  London,  1879,  p.  xxzv. 

+  Messianic  Prophecies,  translated  by  S.  1.  Curtiss,  Edinburgh,  1881. 

J  Delitjssch,  Bib.  Com.  on  the  Proverbs,  T.  &  T.  Clark,  Edinburgh,  1874; 
Zockler  in  Lange,  Biblework,  Com.  on  the  Proverbs,  N.  Y.,  1870. 
10 


218  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

moderns,  think  that  it  was  edited  in  its  present  form  for 
the  second  temple.*  Gratz  thinks  that  the  Psalter  was 
finally  edited  for  the  worship  of  the  synagogue.f  Isaiah 
is  represented  by  the  Baba  Bathra  as  edited  by  the  col- 
lege of  Hezekiah  (p.  176).  Its  integrity  was  disputed  by 
Koppe  (p.  203),  who  maintained  that  it  was  a  collection 
of  pieces  of  various  prophets  loosely  associated.  It  is 
generally  held  by  foreign  scholars  that  the  first  half  of 
Isaiah  is  composed  of  groups  of  prophecies  gathered 
about  those  of  Isaiah  as  a  nucleus,  and  that  the  second 
half  (xl.-lxvi.)  is  by  an  unknown  prophet  of  the  exile.:}: 
The  integrity  of  Isaiah  has  recently  been  defended  by 
W.  H.  Cobb.§ 

There  are  interpolations  in  the  Septuagint  version  in 
connection  with  Jeremiah,  Daniel,  and  Esther.  They 
are  also  found  in  the  New  Testament  by  the  general 
consent  of  scholars — in  Mark  xvi.  9-20 ;  \  in  the  gospel 
of  John  viii.  i-ii  \\  in  the  famous  passage  of  the  heav- 
enly witnesses,  the  first  epistle  of  John  v.  7,  and  elsewhere. 
We  have  seen  that  many  scholars  of  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries  found  such  interpolations  in 
the  Pentateuch  (p.  200).  They  are  found  by  scholars  in 
other  books  of  the  Bible.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  give 
the  judicious  remarks  of  Perowne  on  the  Psalter: 


*  Perowne,  Book  of  Psalms,  2d  edition,  London,  1870,  p.  78 ;  3d  edition, 
Andover,  1876,  p.  63;  Murray,  Lectures  on  the  Origin  and  Growth  0/  the 
Psalms,  N.  Y.,  1880. 

+  Com.  zu.  d.  Psalmen,  I.,  p.  62,  seq. 

X  Ewald,  Die  Propheten,  Gottingen,  i868,  2te  Ausg.,  III.,  p.  20,  seq. ;  De- 
litisch,  Messianic  Prophecies,  1881,  p.  ;  Cheyne,  Prophecies  of  Isaiah,  1881, 
II.,  p.  201  seq. ;  Cross,  Introductory  Hints  to  English  Readers  of  the  Old  Testa- 
mcnt,  London,  1882,  p.  238. 

§  Several  articles  in  the  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  April  and  October,  1881,  Jan.  and 
July,  1882. 

I  See  the  marginal  note  of  the  revisers  in  the  Revised  Version  of  1881. 

\  Bracketed  in  the  Revised  Version  of  1881. 


LITERARY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  219 

"  It  is  plain  tliat  these  ancient  Hebrew  songs  and  hymns  must 
have  suffered  a  variety  of  changes  in  the  course  of  time,  similar  to 
those  which  maybe  traced  in  the  older  religious  poetry  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  where  this  has  been  adapted  by  any  means  to  the  object 
of  some  later  compiler.  Thus,  hymns  once  intended  for  private  use 
became  adapted  to  public.  Words  and  expressions  applicable  to 
the  original  circumstances  of  the  writer,  but  not  applicable  to  the 
new  purpose  to  which  the  hymn  was  to  be  put,  were  omitted  or 
altered.  It  is  only  in  a  critical  age  that  any  anxiety  is  manifested 
to  ascertain  the  original  form  in  which  a  poem  appeared.  The 
practical  use  of  hyrhns  in  the  Christian  Church,  and  of  the  Psalms 
in  the  Jewish,  far  outweighed  all  considerations  of  a  critical  kind, 
or  rather  these  last  never  occurred.  Hence  it  has  become  a  more 
difficult  task  than  it  otherwise  would  have  been  to  ascertain  the 
historical  circumstances  under  which  certain  Psalms  were  written. 
Some  traces  we  find  leading  us  to  one  period  of  Jewish  history  ; 
others  which  lead  to  another.  Often  there  is  a  want  of  cohesion 
between  the  parts  of  a  Psalm ;  often  an  abruptness  of  transition 
,  which  we  can  hardly  account  for,  except  on  the  hypothesis  that  we 
no  longer  read  the  Psalm  in  its  original  form."* 

All  these  questions  are  to  be  determined  by  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  higher  criticism.  The  authority  of  the 
Bible  does  not  depend  upon  the  integrity  of  particular 
writings.  If  the  editing  and  interpolating  were  done 
under  the  influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  this  carries  with 
it  the  same  authority  as  the  original  document.  If  the 
interpolations  are  of  a  different  character,  such  as  are 
found  to  be  the  case  in  the  apocryphal  additions  to 
Daniel  and  Esther,  they  should  be  removed  from  the 
Bible.  If  the  authority  of  the  Bible  depended  upon 
our  first  finding  who  wrote  these  interpolations  and  who 
edited  the  books,  and  whether  these  interpolators  and 
editors  were  inspired  men,  we  could  never  reach  convic- 
tion as  to  many  of  them.  But  inasmuch  as  the  author- 
ity of  the  Bible  depends  not  upon  this  literary  question 

»        *  In  /.  c,  p.  82. 


220  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

of  Integrity  of  writing,  but  upon  the  Word  of  God 
recognized  in  the  writing ;  and  we  prove  the  inspiration 
of  the  authors  from  the  authority  of  the  writings  rather 
than  the  authority  of  the  writings  from  the  inspiration 
of  the  authors ;  the  authority  of  the  Bible  is  not  dis- 
turbed by  any  changes  in  traditional  opinion  as  to  these 
writings.  The  only  question  of  integrity  with  which 
inspiration  has  to  do  is  the  integrity  of  the  canon, 
whether  the  interpolations,  the  separate  parts,  the 
writings  as  a  whole  are  real  and  necessary  parts  of  the 
system  of  divine  revelation — whether  they  contain  the 
Divine  Word.  This  can  never  be  determined  by  the 
higher  criticism,  which  has  to  do  only  with  literary  in- 
tegrity and  not  with  canonical  integrity.  We  doubt 
not  the  canonicity  of  Mark  xvi.  9-20,  although  it  seems 
necessary  to  separate  it  from  the  original  gospel  of 
Mark. 

II.  THE  AUTHENTICITY  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES. 

Several  questions  arise  under  this  head.  Is  the 
author's  name  given  in  connection  with  the  writing? 
Is  it  anonymous?  Can  it  be  pseudonymous?  Is  it  a 
compilation  ?  All  these  are  ordinary  features  of  the 
world's  literature.  Is  there  any  sound  reason  why  they 
should  not  all  be  found  in  the  Bible  ?  There  has  ever 
been  a  tendency  in  the  synagogue  and  the  church  to 
ascribe  the  biblical  books  to  certain  well-known  holy 
men  and  prophets.  Tradition  has  been  busy  here. 
There  is  no  book  of  the  Bible  that  has  not  one  or  more 
traditional  authors.  And  so  in  all  departments  of  liter- 
ature there  is  scarcely  a  great  name  which  has  not  been 
compelled  to  father  writings  that  do  not  belong  to  it. 
The  genuine  writings  of  Athanasius,  Jerome,  Augustine, 


LITERARY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  221 

and  Ambrose  have  to  be  separated  by  careful  criticism 
from  the  spurious ;  for  example : 

"  Of  the  thirty  to  a  hundred  so-called  Ambrosian  hymns,  however, 
only  twelve  in  the  view  of  the  Benedictine  editor  of  his  works  are 
genuine,  the  rest  being  more  or  less  successful  imitations  by  un- 
known authors.  Neale  reduces  the  number  of  the  genuine  Am- 
brosian hymns  to  ten."  * 

It  is  well  known  that  Shakespeare's  genuine  plays 
have  to  be  discriminated  from  the  large  number  of 
others  that  have  been  attributed  to  him.  Shakespearian 
criticism  is  of  so  great  importance  as  to  constitute  a 
literature  of  its  own.f  Sometimes  the  writings  of  a  well- 
known  author  have  been,  in  the  process  of  time,  attrib- 
uted to  another.  We  have  an  example  of  this  in  the 
Paradoxes  of  Herbert  Palmer,  which  have  been  regarded 
as  Lord  Bacon's.;]: 

To  question  the  traditional  opinion  as  to  authorship 
of  a  writing  is  not  to  contest  the  autheyiticity  of  the 
writing.  Authenticity  has  properly  to  do  only  with  the 
claims  of  the  writing  itself,  and  not  with  the  claims  of 
traditional  theories.  The  Baba  Bathra  does  not  dis- 
criminate between  editorship  and  authorship  (p.  178).  It 
is  evident  that  to  the  Tanaim  of  the  second  century  the 
principal  thing  was  official  committing  to  writing  and 
not  the  original  production  of  the  writing.  The  Tal- 
mudic  statements  as  to  authorship  are  many  of  them 
absurd  conjectures.  Josephus  and  Philo,  when  they 
make  Moses  the  author  of  the  narrative  of  his  own 
death,  go  beyond  the  Baba  Bathra  and  indulge  in  folly. 

The  titles  found  in  connection  with  the  biblical  books 


*  Schaff,  History  0/ the  Christian  Church,  III.,  1868,  p.  591. 
+  Knight's  Shakespeare,  Supplemental  Volume. 

X  See  Grosart,  Lard  Bacon  not  the  author  of  the  '■'^  Chistian  Paradoxes.''* 
Printed  for  private  circulation,  1S65. 


222  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

cannot  always  be  relied  upon,  for  the  reason  that  we 
have  first  to  determine  whether  they  came  from  the 
original  authors,  or  have  been  appended  by  inspired 
editors,  or  have  been  attached  in  the  rabbinical  or  Chris- 
tian schools.  Thus  the  difference  in  the  titles  of  the 
several  psalms  between  the  Septuagint  version  and  the 
Massoretic  text  are  so  great  as  to  force  the  conclusion 
that  many  of  the  titles  are  of  late  and  uncertain  origin, 
and  that  most,  if  not  all,  are  of  doubtful  authority.* 

In  considering  the  question  of  authenticity,  we  have 
first  to  examine  the  writing  itself.  If  the  writing  claims 
to'  be  by  a  certain  author,  to  doubt  it  is  to  doubt  the 
credibility  and  authority  of  the  writing.  If  these  claims 
are  found  to  be  unreliable,  the  credibility  of  the  writing 
is  gone,  and  its  inspiration  is  involved.  But  if  the  credi- 
bility of  the  writing  is  not  impeached,  its  inspiration 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  question  of  its  human  author- 
ship. 

The  higher  criticism  has  been  compelled  by  Deism 
and  Rationalism  to  meet  this  question  of  forgery  of 
biblical  writings.  This  phase  of  the  subject  has  now 
been  settled  so  far  that  no  reputable  critics  venture  to 
write  of  any  of  our  canonical  writings  as  forgeries. 

(i)  There  are  large  numbers  of  the  biblical  books  that 
are  anonymous:  e.g.,  the  Pentateuch,  Joshua,  Judges, 
Samuel,  Kings,  Chronicles,  Ezra,  Nehemiah,  Esther, 
Job,  Jonah,  Ruth,  many  of  the  Psalms,  Lamentations, 
and  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 

Tradition  has  assigned  authors  for  all  of  these.  It  is 
also  maintained  that  the  internal  statements  of  some  of 
these  books  point  to  their  authorship  by  certain  persons. 


«  Murray,  Lectures  on  the  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Psalms^  i88o,  p.  79, 
seg. ;  Perowne  in  /.  <•.,  p.  94,  seq. 


LITERARY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  £23 

These  latter  are  questions  of  interpretation.  The  vast 
weight  of  the  biblical  scholarship  of  the  present  day  is, 
however,  with  reference  to  the  books  mentioned  above, 
against  any  such  interpretation  of  them  as  discovers 
authorship  in  their  statements.  Such  interpretation  is 
forced,  and  is  regarded  as  based  on  preconceptions  and 
dogmatic  considerations. 

(2)  Are  ihevQ pseudonymous  books  in  the  Bible?  This 
is  a  well-known  and  universally  recognized  literary  style 
which  no  one  should  think  of  identifying  with  forgery 
or  deceit  of  any  kind.  Ancient  and  modern  literature 
is  full  of  pseudonymes  as  well  as  anonymes.  One  need 
only  look  over  the  bibliographical  works  devoted  to  this 
subject,*  or  have  a  little  familiarity  with  the  history  of 
literature,  or  examine  any  public  library,  to  settle  this 
question.  There  is  great  variety  in  the  use  of  the  pseu- 
donyme.  Sometimes  the  author  uses  a  surname  rather 
than  his  own  proper  name,  either  by  it  to  conceal  him- 
self from  the  public  or  to  introduce  himself  by  a  title  of 
honor.  Thus  Calvin  follows  the  opinion  of  some  of  the 
ancients  that  the  prophecy  of  Malachi  was  written  by 
Ezra,  who  assumed  the  surname  Malachi  in  connection 
with  it.  Then  again  some  descriptive  term  is  used  as 
by  the  authors  of  the  celebrated  Martin  Marprelate 
tracts.  Then  a  fictitious  name  is  constructed  as  in  the 
title  of  the  famous  tracts  vindicating  Presbyterianism 
against  Episcopacy ;  the  authors  Stephen  Marshall,  Ed- 
mund Calamy,  Thomas  Young,  Matthew  Newcommen, 
and  William  Spurstow  coined  the  name  Smectymnuus 
from  the  initial  letters  of  their  names.  Among  the 
ancients  it  was  more  common  to  assume  the  names  of 


*  Barbier,  Dictionnaire des  Ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes,  4  torn.,  Paris, 
1872-78;  Halkelt  and  Lang,  Dictionary  0/  the  Anonymous  and  Pseudonymoui 
Literature  0/ Great  Britain,  1S82,  seq..  Vol.  I.,  A-E,  II.  F-N. 


224  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

ancient  worthies.  There  is  an  enormous  number  of 
these  pseudonymes  in  the  Puritan  literature  of  the  i6th 
and  17th  centuries.  The  descendants  of  the  Puritans 
are  the  last  ones  who  should  think  of  any  dishonesty  or 
impropriety  connected  with  their  use. 

Why  should  the  pseudonyme  be  banished  from  the 
Bible?  Among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  they  existed 
in  great  numbers.  Among  the  Jews  we  have  a  long 
list  in  extra  canonical  books,  e.  g. :  The  apocalypses 
of  Enoch,  Baruch,  Ezra,  Assumption  of  Moses,  Ascen- 
sion of  Isaiah,  Testaments  of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs,  the 
Psalter  of  Solomon,  covering  several  kinds  of  literature. 
Why  should  there  not  be  some  of  these  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament ?  It  is  now  conceded  by  most  scholars,  even 
Keil  and  Delitzsch,  that  Ecclesiastes  is  such  a  pseudo- 
nyme, using  Solomon's  name.*  It  is  claimed  by  some 
that  Daniel  f  and  Deuteronomy  :j:  are  also  pseudonymes. 
If  no  a  priori  objection  can  be  taken  to  the  pseudonyme 


*  This  is  invincibly  established  by  Wright,  Book  of  Koheleth,  London,  18S3, 
p.  79,  seq.  :  "  Solomon  is  introduced  as  the  speaker  throughout  the  work  in  the 
same  way  as  Cicero  in  his  treatise  on  'Old  Age,'  and  on  '  Friendship,'  selects 
Cato  the  elder  as  the  exponent  of  his  views,  or  as  Plato  in  his  Dialogues  brings 
forward  Socrates."    See  Presbyterian  Review,  IV.,  p.  649,  seq. 

t  See  Strack  in  /.  <:.,  p.  164,  seq.,  and  p.  189  of  this  vol. 

X  So  Riehm,  Gesetzgehung  Mosis  im  Lande  Moab,  1854,  p.  112,  represents 
the  Deuteronomic  code  as  a  literary  fiction.  The  author  lets  Moses  appear  as  a 
prophetic  popular  orator,  and  as  the  first  priestly  reader  of  the  law.  It  is  a  liter- 
ary fiction  as  Ecclesiastes  is  a  literary  fiction.  The  latter  uses  the  person  of  Solo- 
mon as  the  master  of  wisdom  to  set  forth  the  lessons  of  wisdom.  The  former, 
uses  Moses  as  the  great  lawgiver,  to  promulgate  divine  laws.  This  is  also  the 
view  of  Noldeke,  Alttest.  Literatur,  1868,  p.  30 ;  and  W.  Robertson  Smith, 
The  Old  Testament  in  the  Jewish  Church,  N.  Y.,  1881,  p.  384,  seq.,  who  uses 
the  term  legal  fiction  as  a  variety  of  literary  fiction.  We  cannot  go  with  those 
who  regard  this  as  an  absurdity,  or  as  involving  literary  dishonesty.  Drs.  Riehm 
and  Smith,  and  others  who  hold  this  view,  repudiate  such  a  thought  with 
abhorrence.  The  style  of  literary  fiction  was  a  familiar  and  favorite  one  of  the 
later  Jews.  And  there  can  be  no  a  priori  reason  why  they  should  not  have 
used  it  in  Bible  times. 


LITERARY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.         225 

as  inconsistent  with  divine  revelation, — if  or\t pseudonyme, 
e.  g.,  Ecclesiastes,  be  admitted  in  the  Bible,  then  the 
question  whether  Daniel  and  Deuteronomy  are  pseudo- 
nymes  must  be  determined  by  the  higher  criticism,  and 
it  does  not  touch  the  question  of  their  inspiration  or 
authority  as  a  part  of  the  Scriptures  at  all.  All  would 
admit  that  no  forger  or  forgery  could  be  inspired.  But 
that  every  one  who  writes  a  pseudonyme  is  a  deceiver  or 
forger  is  absurd.  The  usage  of  literature  ancient  and 
modern  has  established  its  propriety.  If  it  claims  to  be 
by  a  particular  author,  and  is  said  by  a  critic  to  be  a 
pseudonyme,  then  its  credibility  is  attacked,  and  the 
question  of  its  inspiration  is  raised.  In  the  New  Tes- 
tament the  gospel  of  John  is  thought  by  some  to  be  a 
pseudonyme  of  the  second  Christian  century.  The  gos- 
pel of  John  has  been  the  centre  of  the  conflict  of  the 
higher  criticism  in  the  New  Testament.  Here  the  lines 
of  battle  were  sharply  drawn  by  the  schools  of  Baur  and 
Neander.  The  vindication  of  the  Johanaic  authorship 
is  the  grandest  critical  achievement  of  our  century,  for 
which  all  men  ought  to  be  grateful  to  the  principles  and 
methods  of  the  higher  criticism.  Traditionalists  have 
contributed  nothing  of  value  to  this  discussion,  but  have 
only  impeded  the  evangelical  critics  in  their  struggles 
with  the  rationalistic  critics.*  We  shall  give  an  extract 
from  Weiss  as  it  not  only  bears  on  the  authenticity  of 
John,  but  also  on  the  general  question  of  the  pseu- 
donyme : 

"There  was  certainly  in   antiquity  a  pseudonymous   literature, 
which  cannot  be  criticized  from  the  standpoint  of  the  literary  cus- 


*  See  Gcxlet,  Com.  on  the  Gospel  of  John,  T.  &  T.  Clark,  Edin.,  1876,  I., 
p.  8,  seq.     Luthardt,  St.  John's  Gospel,  T.  &  T.  Clark,  Edin.,  1876,  I.,  pp.  211, 
seq. ;   Ezra  Abbot,  Authorship  0/  the  Fourth  Gospel,  Boston,  1880 ;  Weiss, 
Leben  Jcsu,  18S2,  I.,  p.  88,  seq. 
10* 


226  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

toms  of  our  day,  or  judged  as  forgery.  For  it  is  just  the  naiveti 
with  which  the  author  strives  to  find  a  higher  authority  for  his  words 
by  laying  them  in  the  mouth  of  one  of  the  celebrated  men  of  the 
past,  in  whose  spirit  he  desires  to  speak,  which  justifies  this  literary 
form.  Quite  otherwise  is  it  in  this  case ;  the  author  mentions  no 
name  ;  he  only  gives  it  to  be  understood  that  it  is  the  unnamed  dis- 
ciple so  repeatedly  introduced  who  is  writing  here  from  his  own  per- 
sonal knowledge ;  he  leaves  it  to  be  inferred  from  the  comparison 
of  one  passage  with  another  that  this  eye-witness  cannot  be  any  one 
but  John.  It  was  Renan,  who  in  the  face  of  modern  criticism, 
said  that  it  was  not  a  case  of  pseudonymous  authorship  such  as  was 
known  to  antiquity,  it  was  either  truth  or  refined  forgery — plain  de- 
ception." * 

The  authenticity  of  the  Pauline  epistles  of  the  im- 
prisonment, and  the  pastoral  epistles  has  been  contested 
in  a  similar  way.  The  higher  criticism  has  shown  that 
the  differences  in  the  Pauline  epistles  represent  three 
stages  of  growth  in  the  experiences  and  doctrinal  teach- 
ing of  the  apostle  Paul  himself.  And  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  think  of  his  disciples  as  their  authors,  or  to  de- 
scend into  the  second  century.f  The  Apocalypse  has 
been  disputed  from  ancient  times.  It  has  been  assigned 
by  some  of  the  ancients  to  a  presbyter  John.  Recent 
criticism  is  more  and  more  decided  in  favor  of  the  au- 
thorship of  the  apostle  John  and  against  placing  it  with 
the  pseudonymous  apocalypses  of  Peter  and  Paul.  The 
differences,  which  are  recognized  to  be  very  great  in 
language  and  style,  and  in  doctrine,  are  best  explained 
by  regarding  the  Apocalypse  as  an  earlier  writing,  and 
the  gospel  as  the  most  mature  writing  of  the  apostle.:|: 

(3)    Compilations.     The  historical  books  of  Kings  and 


*  Weiss,  Life  of  Jesus,  T.  &  T.  Clark,  Edin.,  1883,  I.,  p.  94. 
+  See  SchafI,  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  1882,  p.  784,  seq.  ;  Weiss,  Bib- 
lical Theology  of  the  New  Testament,  Edinburgh,  1882,  I.,  p.  285. 
X  Schaff,  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  N.  Y.,  <882,  pp.  716,  seq. ;  834. 


literaky:  study  of  the  bible.  227 

Chronicles,*  and  the  gospel  of  Luke  (i.  1-4)  represent 
themselves  as  compilations.  They  use  older  documents 
which  are  sometimes  mentioned  by  name.  The  ques- 
tion then  is,  how  far  this  compilation  has  extended, 
and  whether  it  has  been  once  for  all,  or  has  passed 
through  a  number  of  stages.  Thus  the  books  of  Kings 
refer  to  books  of  Chronicles  which  are  not  our  books 
of  Chronicles,  and  our  books  of  Chronicles  refer  to  books 
of  Kings  which  are  not  our  books  of  Kings.  Both  of 
these  historical  writers  seem  to  depend  upon  an  an- 
cient book  of  Chronicles — only  our  book  of  Chronicles 
has  used  it  in  its  citation  in  another  book  of  Kings 
than  the  one  presented  to  us  in  the  canon,  for  it 
gives  material  not  found  therein.^  The  question 
arises  whether  the  other  historical  books  are  not  also 
compilations.  In  the  New  Testament  the  chief  dis- 
putes have  been  as  to  Matthew  and  Mark ;  ^  in  the 
Old  Testament  as  to  the  Pentateuch.  It  is  now  con- 
ceded by  most  critics  that  the  Pentateuch  is  composed 
of  four  separate  historical  narratives,  each  with  its  code 
of  legislation,  and  that  these  have  been  compacted  into 
their  present  form  by  one  or  more  editors.  The  Bada 
Bathra  makes  Moses  the  editor  or  author  of  the  Penta- 
teuch. If  the  inspiration  of  the  Pentateuch  depends 
upon  the  sole  Mosaic  authorship,  then  criticism  has  come 
into  irreconcilable  conflict  with  its  inspiration.  But 
this  is  only  a  presumption  of  tradition.  The  inspiration 
and  authority  of  the  Pentateuch  are  as  safe,  yes,  safer, 


*  I  Kings  xi.  41  ;  xiv.  19, 29  ;  xvi.  5  ;  2  Kings  i.  18  ;  viii.  23  ;  xx.  20  ;  i  Chron. 
ixix.  29 ;  2  Chron.  ix.  29 ;  xii.  15  ;  xiii.  22  ;  xvi.  11  ;  xxiv.  27 ;  xxvi.  22,  etc. ; 
xxxiii.  18,  19 ;  xxxv.  27 ;  Neh.  xi,  23. 

t  Noldeke,  Altiest.  Literatur,  Leipzig,  1868,  p.  57,  seg. 

X  Weiss,  Leben  Jesu,  L,  1882,  p.  24,^^7.,  gives  the  latest  and  best  statement  of 
this  discussion  and  its  results. 


-228  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

with  the  view  that  these  books  were  compiled,  as  were 
the  other  historical  books  of  the  Old  Testament.*  The 
question  as  to  the  authenticity  of  the  Bible  is  whether 
God  is  its  author  ;  whether  it  is  inspired.  This  cannot 
be  determined  by  the  higher  criticism  in  any  way,  for 
the  higher  criticism  has  only  to  do  with  human  author- 
ship, and  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  divine  authorship, 
which  is  determined  on  different  principles,  as  we  have 
seen  in  our  study  of  the  canon  (Chapter  V.). 

III.  THE  LITERARY  FORMS  OF  THE   SCRIPTURES. 

The  literary  forms  have  not  shared  to  any  great  extent 
in  the  revival  of  biblical  studies.  And  yet  these  are  ex- 
actly the  things  that  most  need  consideration  in  our 
day,  when  biblical  literature  is  compared  with  the  litera- 
tures of  the  other  religions  of  the  ancient  world,  and  the 
question  is  so  often  raised  why  we  should  recognize  the 
Bible  as  the  inspired  word  of  God  rather  thian  the  sacred 
books  of  other  religions;  and  when  the  higher  criticism 
is  becoming  the  most  important  factor  in  biblical  studies 
of  our  day. 

Bishop  Lowth  in  England,  and  the  poet  Herder  in 
Germany,  toward  the  close  of  the  last  century  called 
the  attention  of  the  learned  world  to  this  neglected 
theme,  and  invited  it  to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures  as 
sacred  literature ;  but  little  advance  has  been  made  since 
that  day,  owing,  doubtless,  to  the  fact  that  the  conflict 
between  the  churches  and  rationalism  has  been  raging 
about  the  history,  the  religion,  and  the  doctrines ;  the 
original  text,  and  the  higher  criticism  in  questions  of 
authenticity,  integrity,  and  credibility  of  writings  ;  but 


*  See  Critical  Study  of  the  Histgry  of  the  Higher  Criticism,  Presbyterian 
Review,  IV.,  pp.  los,  129,  seq. 


LITERARY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  229 

the  finer  literary  features  have  not  entered  into  the  con- 
troversies to  any  extent  until  quite  recent  times.  De 
Wette,  Ewald,  and  especially  Reuss,  have  made  valuable 
contributions  to  this  subject,  but  even  these  masters  of 
exegetical  theology  have  given  their  strength  to  other 
topics.  There  lies  open  to  the  student  of  our  day  one 
of  the  most  interesting  and  inviting  fields  for  research, 
whence  he  may  derive  rich  spoil  for  himself  and  the 
church. 

The  most  obvious  divisions  of  literature  are  poetry 
and  prose.  These  are  distinguished  on  the  surface  by 
different  modes  of  writing,  and  to  the  ear  by  different 
modes  of  reading  ;  but  underneath  all  this  is  a  difference 
of  rhythmical  movement.  It  is  indeed  difficult  to  draw 
the  line  scientifically  between  poetry  and  prose  even 
here,  for  as  Lanier  says  :  "  Prose  has  its  rhythms,  its 
tunes  and  its  tone-colors,  like  verse  ;  and,  while  the  ex- 
treme forms  of  prose  and  verse  are  sufficiently  unlike 
each  other,  there  are  such  near  grades  of  intermediate 
forms,  that  they  may  be  said  to  run  into  each  other, 
and  any  line  claiming  to  be  distinctive  must  necessarily 
be  more  or  less  arbitrary."  *  Hence  rhetorical  prose  and 
works  of  the  imagination  in  all  languages  approximate 
closely  to  poetry.  The  poetry  of  the  Bible  is  written  in 
the  MSS.,  and  is  printed  in  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  texts, 
as  well  as  the  versions  with  few  exceptions  exactly  as  if 
it  were  prose  ;  and  the  Hebrew  scribes  who  divided  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures  and  pointed  them  with  vowels 
and  accents  dealt  with  them  as  if  they  were  prose  and  even 
obscured  the  poetic  form  by  their  ignorant  and  careless 
divisions  of  verse  and  sections,  so  that  the  poetic  form 
in  many  cases  can  be  restored  only  by  a  careful  study  of 


*  Science  of  English  Verse,  N.  Y,,  i8£o,  p.  57. 


230  BIBLICAL  STUDT. 

the  unpointed  text  and  a  neglect  of  the  Massoretic 
sections. 

We  reserve  the  subject  of  Hebrew  Poetry  for  our 
next  chapter,  limiting  ourselves  in  this  chapter  to  the 
Prose  Literature  of  the  Bible.  This  is  found  in  rich 
variety. 

(i)  History  constitutes  a  large  portion  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments.  In  the  Old  Testament  there  are  two 
distinct  kinds  of  history:  the  priestly  and  the  prophetic. 
The  priestly  is  represented  by  Chronicles,  Ezra,  and  Ne- 
hemiah,  and  extends  backward  into  the  Elohistic  section 
of  the  Pentateuch.  It  is  characterized  by  the  annalistic 
style,  using  older  sources,  such  as  genealogical  tables, 
letters,  official  documents,  and  entering  into  the  minute 
details  of  the  Levitical  system,  and  the  organization  of 
the  State,  but  destitute  of  imagination  and  of  the  artistic 
sense.  The  prophetic  is  represented  by  the  books  of 
Samuel  and  Kings  and  extends  backward  into  the  Jeho- 
vistic  sections  of  the  Pentateuch.  It  is  characterized  by 
the  descriptive  style,  using  ancient  stories,  traditions, 
poetic  extracts,  and  entire  poems.  It  is  graphic  in  de- 
lineation, using  the  imagination  freely,  and  with  fine 
artistic  tact.* 

In  the  New  Testament  we  have  four  biographical 
sketches  of  the  noblest  and  most  exalted  person  who 
has  ever  appeared  in  history, (the  God-Manl  Jesus  Christ, 
in  their  variety  giving  us  memoirs  in  four^distinct  types, 
the  highest  in  the  gospel  of  John,  where  the  person  of 
Jesus  is  set  in  the  halo  of  religious  philosophical  reflec- 
tion from  the  point  of  view  of  the  Christophanies  of 
Patmos.f     The  book  of  Acts  presents  the  history  of 


*  Dlllmann,  Genesis,  4te.  Aufl.,  Leipzig,  18S3,  p.'  xi.  seg. ;  Noldeke,  Altteat, 
Literatur,  Leipzig,  1868,  p.  15,  seq. 

\  Weiss,  Ltbcn  Jesu,  Berlin,  1882, 1.,  p.  103. 


LITERARY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  231 

the  planting  and  training  of  the  Christian  church,  using 
various  sources  and  personal  reminiscences. 

All  these  forms  of  history  and  biography  use  the 
same  variety  of  sources  as  histories  in  other  ancient 
literature.  Their  historical  material  was.  not  revealed 
to  the  authors  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  but  gathered  by 
their  own  industry  as  historians  from  existing  material 
and  sources  of  information.  The  most  that  we  can 
claim  for  them  while  distinguishing  inspiration  from 
revelation,  is  that  they  were  inspired  by  God  in  their 
work  so  that  they  were  guided  into  truth  and  thereby 
preserved  from  error — certainly  as  to  all  matters  of  relig- 
ion, faith,  and  morals ;  but  to  what  extent  further  in  the 
details  and  external  matters  of  their  composition  is  still 
in  dispute  among  evangelical  men.  It  is  also  disputed 
to  what  extent  their  use  of  sources  was  limited  by  in- 
spiration, or,  in  other  words,  what  kinds  of  sources  were 
unworthy  of  the  use  of  inspired  historians.  There  are 
those  who  would  exclude  the  legend  and  the  myth  which 
are  found  in  all  other  ancient  history.  If  the  legend  in  it- 
self implies  what  is  false,  it  would  certainly  be  unworthy 
of  divine  inspiration  to  use  it;  but  if  it  is  the  poetical  em- 
bellishment of  bare  facts,  one  does  not  readily  see  why 
it  should  be  excluded  from  the  sacred  historians'  sources 
any  more  than  snatches  of  poetry,  bare  genealogical  ta- 
bles, and  records  often  fragmentary  and  incomplete,  such 
as  are  certainly  found  in  the  historical  books.  If  the 
myth  necessarily  implies  in  itself  polytheism  or  panthe- 
ism, or  any  of  the  elements  of  false  religions  it  would  be 
unworthy  of  divine  inspiration.  It  is  true  that  the  classic 
myths  which  lie  at  the  basis  of  the  history  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  with  which  all  students  are  familiar,  are  essential- 
ly polytheistic ;  but  not  more  so  than  the  religions  of 
these  peoples  and  all  their  literature.     It  is  also  true 


232  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

that  the  myths  of  Assyria  and  Babylon  as  recorded  on 
their  monuments  are  essentially  polytheistic.  Many 
scholars  have  found  such  myths  in  the  Pentateuch.  But 
over  against  this  there  is  the  striking  fact  that  stands 
out  in  the  comparison  of  the  biblical  narratives  of  the 
creation  and  the  flood,  with  the  Assyrian  and  Babylo- 
nian ;  namely,  that  the  biblical  are  monotheistic,  the 
Assyrian  polytheistic.  But  is  there  not  a  monotheistic 
myth  as  well  as  a  polytheistic  ?  In  other  words,  may 
not  the  poetic  form  of  the  myth  be  appropriate  to  mo- 
notheistic as  well  as  to  polytheistic  conceptions  ?  May 
it  not  be  an  appropriate  literary  form  for  the  true  bibli- 
cal religion  as  well  as  the  other  ancient  religions  of  the 
world  ?  * 

However  we  may  answer  this  question  a  priori,  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  the  term  myth  at  least  has  become  so 
associated  with  polytheism  in  later  usage  and  in  the 
common  mind,  that  it  is  unwise,  if  not  altogether  im- 
proper, to  use  it  in  connection  with  the  pure  monothe- 
ism and  supernatural  revelation  of  the  Bible,  if  for  no 
other  reason — at  least  for  this — to  avoid  misconception, 
and  in  order  to  make  the  necessary  discriminations.  For 
the  discrimination  of  the  religion  of  the  Bible  from  the 
other  religions  must  ever  be  more  important  than  their 
comparison  and  features  of  resemblance.  There  is  no 
such  objection  to  the  term  legend,f  which  in  its  earliest 
and  still  prevalent  use,  has  a  prevailing  religious  sense, 
and  can  cover  without  difficulty  all  those  elements  in  the 
biblical  history  which  we  are  now  considering.  There 
is  certainly  a  resemblance  to  the  myth  of  other  nations 


*  Lenormant,  Beginnings  of  History ,  N.  Y.,  1882,  p.  187. 

t  George  P.  Marsh,  article  Legend,  in  Johnson's  New  Universal  Cyclofadia, 
1876,  II.,  p.  1714,  and  the  Legenda  Aurea,  or  Historia  Lombardica,  of  Jacobus 
de  Voragine,  of  the  13th  century. 


LITERARY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  233 

in  the  close  and  familiar  association  of  the  one  God  with 
the  ancestors  of  our  race,  and  the  patriarchs  of  Israel, 
however  we  may  explain  it.  Whatever  names  we  may- 
give  to  these  beautiful  and  sacred  traditions  which  were 
transmitted  in  the  families  of  God's  people  from  genera- 
tion to  generation,  and  finally  used  by  the  sacred  histo- 
rians in  their  holy  books  ;  whatever  names  we  may  give 
them  in  distinction  from  the  legends  and  myths  of  other 
nations,  none  can  fail  to  see  that  poetic  embellishment 
natural  and  exquisitely  beautiful,  artless  and  yet  most 
artistic,  which  corhes  from  the  imagination  of  the  com- 
mon people  of  the  most  intelligent  nations,  in  these 
sources  that  were  used  by  divine  inspiration  in  giving 
us  ancient  history  in  its  most  attractive  form.  Indeed 
the  imagination  is  in  greater  use  in  Hebrew  history  than 
in  any  other  history,  with  all  the  oriental  wealth  of  color 
in  the  prophetic  historians. 

The  dialogues  and  discourses  of  the  ancient  worthies/ 
are  simple,  natural,  and  profound.     They  are  not  to  ba 
regarded  as  exact  reproductions  of  the  words  originallyX 
spoken,  whether  preserved  in  the  memory  of  the  people  ] 
and  transmitted  in  stereotyped  form  or  electrotyped  on  / 
the  mind  of  the  historian,  or  in  his  writing  by  divine  in-/ 
spiration ;  but  they  are  rather  reproductions  of  the  situ- 
ation in  a  graphic  and  rhetorical  manner,  differing  from 
the  like  usage  in  Livy  and  Thucydides,  Herodotus  and\ 
Xenophon  only  in  that  the  latter  used  their  reflection/ 
and  imagination  merely;  the  former  used  the  same  fac- 
ulties guided  by  divine  inspiration  into  the  truth  and 
restrained  from  error. 

In  biblical  history  there  is  a  wealth  of  beauty  and  re- 
ligious instruction  for  those  students  who  approach  it 
not  only  as  a  work  of  divine  revelation  from  which  the 
maximum  of  dogma,  or  of  examples  and  maxims  of  prac- 


A 


234  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

tical  ethics  are  to  be  derived ;  but  with  the  higher 
appreciation  and  insight  of  those  who  are  trained  to 
the  historian's  art  of  representation,  and  who  learn  from 
the  art  of  history,  and  the  styles  and  methods  of  his- 
tory, the  true  interpretation  of  historical  books,  where 
the  soul  enters  into  the  enjoyment  of  the  concrete, 
and  is  unwilling  to  break  up  the  ideal  of  beauty,  or 
destroy  the  living  reality,  for  the  sake  of  the  analytic 
process,  and  the  abstract  resultant,  however  important 
these  may  be  in  other  respects,  and  under  other  circum- 
stances. 

(2)  Advancing  from  historical  prose,  we  come  to  the 
Oration.  The  Bible  is  as  rich  in  this  form  of  literature 
as  in  its  history  and  poetry.  Indeed,  the  three  run  in- 
sensibly into  one  another  in  Hebrew  prophecy.  Rare 
models  of  eloquence  are  found  in  the  historical  books, 
such  as  the  plea  of  Judah  (Gen.  xliv.  18-34);  the  charge 
of  Joshua  (Jos.  xxiv.) ;  the  indignant  outburst  of  Jotham 
(Judges  ix.) ;  the  sentence  pronounced  upon  Saul  by 
Samuel  (i  Sam.  xv.) ;  the  challenge  of  Elijah  (i  Kings 
xviii.).  The  three  great  discourses  of  Moses  in  Deuter- 
onomy are  elaborate  orations,  combining  great  variety 
of  motives  and  rhetorical  forms,  especially  in  the  last 
discourse,  to  impress  upon  Israel  the  doctrines  of  God, 
and  the  blessings  and  curses,  the  life  and  death,  involved 
therein. 

The  prophetical  books  present  us  collections  of  in- 
spired eloquence,  which  for  unction,  fervor,  impressive- 
ness,  grandeur,  sublimity,  and  power,  surpass  all  the  elo- 
quence of  the  world,  as  they  grasp  the  historical  past 
and  the  ideal  future,  and  entwine  them  with  the  living 
present,  for  the  comfort  and  warning,  the  guidance  and 
the  restraint  of  God's  people.  Nowhere  else  do  we  find 
such  depths  of  passion,  such  heights  of  ecstasy,  such 


LITERARY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  235 

dreadful  inlprecations,  such   solemn  warnings,  such  im- 
pressive exhortations,  and  such  sublime  promises. 

Each   prophet    has   his   own  peculiarities  and  excel- 
lences.     "Joel's    discourse    is   like   a   rapid,    sprightly- 
stream  flowing  into  a  delightful  plain.     Hosea's  is  like  a 
waterfall  plunging  down  over  rocks  and  ridges ;  Isaiah 
as  a  mass  of  water  rolling  heavily  along."  *     Micah  has 
no   superior   in  simplicity  and  originality  of   thought, 
spirituality  and  sublimity  of  conception,  clearness  and 
precision  of  prophetic  vision.     "  Isaiah  is  not  the  espec- 
ially lyrical  prophet,  or  the  especially  elegiacal  prophet, 
or  the  especially  oratorical  or  hortatory  prophet,  as  we 
would  describe  a  Joel,  a  Hosea,  or  Micah,  with  whom 
there  is  a  greater  prevalence  of  some  particular  colors ; 
but  just  as  the  subject  requires,  he  has  readily  at  com- 
mand every  different  kind  of  style,  and  every  different 
change  of  delineation ;   and  it  is  precisely  this,  that,  in 
point  of  language,  establishes  his  greatness,  as  well  as, 
in  general,  forms  one  of  his  most  towering  points  of  ex- 
cellence.    His  only  fundamental  peculiarity  is  the  lofty, 
majestic  calmness  of  his  style,  proceeding  out  of  the 
perfect  command  which  he  feels  that  he  has  over  his 
matter."  f     Jeremiah  is  the  prophet  of  sorrow,  and  his 
style  is  heavy  and  monotonous,  as  the  same  story  of 
woe  must  be  repeated  again  and  again  in  varied  s. rains. 
Ezekiel  was,  as   Hengstenberg  represents,  of   a  gigan- 
tic appearance,  well  adapted  to  struggle  effectively  with 
the  spirit  of  the  times  of  the  Babylonian  captivity — a 
spiritual  Samson,  who,  with  powerful  hand,  grasped  the 
pillars  of  the  temple  of  idolatry  and  dashed   it  to  the 
earth,  standing  alone,  yet  worth  a  hundred   prophetic 
schools,  and,  during  his  entire  appearance,  a  powerful 

*  Wunsche,  Weissagungen  des  Prophten  Joel^  Leipzig,  1872,  p.  38. 
t  Ewald,  Die  Prophet  en,  Gottingen,  1867,  L,  p.  279. 


230  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

proof  that  the  Lord  was  still  among  His  people,  although 
His  visible  temple  was  ground  to  powder.*  Malachi 
closes  the  line,  "Although  like  a  late  evening  closing 
a  long  day,  he  is  yet  at  the  same  time  the  gray  of  dawn, 
bearing  a  noble  day  in  its  bosom."  f 

In  the  New  Testament  the  three  great  discourses  of 
Jesus  and  His  parabolic  teaching  present  us  oratory  of 
the  Aramaic  type  ;  simple,  quiet,  transparent,  yet  reach- 
ing to  unfathomable  depths,  and  as  the  very  blue  of 
heaven, — every  word  a  diamond,  every  sentence  alto- 
gether spirit  and  life,  illuminating  with  their  pure, 
searching  light,  quickening  with  their  warm,  pulsating, 
throbbing  love.ij: 

The  discourse  of  Peter  at  Pentecost  will  vie  with  Cicero 
against  Catiline  in  its  conviction  of  the  rulers  of  Israel, 
and  in  its  piercing  the  hearts  of  the  people.  The  dis- 
courses of  Paul  on  Mars'  Hill,  and  before  the  Jews  in  Je- 
rusalem, and  the  magnates  of  Rome  at  Caesarea,  are  not 
surpassed  by  Demosthenes  on  the  Crown.  We  see  the 
philosophers  of  Athens  confounded,  some  mocking,  and 
others  convinced  unto  salvation.  We  see  the  Jewish 
mob  at  first  silenced,  and  then  bursting  forth  into  a 
frantic  yell  for  his  blood.  We  see  the  Roman  governor 
trembling  before  his  prisoner's  reasonings  of  justice  and 
judgment  to  come.  We  do  not  compare  the  orations 
of  Peter  and  Paul  with  those  of  Cicero  and  Demos- 
thenes for  completeness,  symmetry,  and  artistic  finish ; 
this  would  be  impossible,  for  the  sermons  ot  Peter  and 
Paul  are  only  preserved  to  us  in  outline ;  but,  taking 
them  as  outlines,  we   maintain   that  for  skilful  use  of 


*  Hengstenberg,  Christology,  T.  &.  T.  Claxk,  Edin.,  1864,  Vol.  II.,  p.  3. 
t  Nagelsbach,  article  Maleachi,  in  Herzog,  i  Aufl.,  viii.,  p.  756. 
X  See  A.  B.  Bruce,  Parabolic  Teaching  of  Christ,  London,  1882,  for  a  fine 
appreciation  of  the  literary  forms  of  the  parables. 


LITERARY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  237 

circumstance,  for  adaptation  to  the  occasion,  for  rhetor- 
ical organization  of  the  theme,  for  rapid  display  of  argu- 
ment, in  their  grand  march  to  the  cHmax,  and  above  all 
in  the  effects  that  they  produced,  the  orations  of  Peter 
and  Paul  are  pre-eminent. 

Nowhere  else  save  in  the  Bible  have  the  oratorical 
types  of  three  distinct  languages  and  civilizations  com- 
bined for  unity  and  variety  of  effect.  These  biblical 
models  ought  to  enrich  and  fortify  the  sermon  of  our 
day.  If  we  should  study  them  as  literary  forms,  as  much 
as  we  study  Cicero  and  Demosthenes  as  models  of  sa- 
cred eloquence,  the  pulpit  would  rise  to  new  grandeur 
and  sublimer  heights  and  more  tremendous  power  over 
the  masses  of  mankind. 

(3)  The  Epistle  may  be  regarded  as  the  third  form  of 
prose  literature.  This  is  the  contribution  of  the  Ara- 
maic language  to  the  Old  Testament  in  the  letters  con- 
tained in  the  books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  But  it  is 
in  the  New  Testament  that  the  epistle  receives  its  mag- 
nificent development  in  the  letters  of  James,  Peter,  Paul, 
Jude,  and  John — some  familiar,  some  dogmatic,  some 
ecclesiastical,  some  pastoral,  some  speculative  and  pre- 
dictive, and  in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  we  have  an 
elaborate  essay. 

How  charming  the  letters  of  Cicero  to  his  several  fa- 
miliar friends !  What  a  loss  to  the  world  to  be  de- 
prived of  them  !  But  who  among  us  would  exchange  for 
them  the  epistles  of  the  apostles?  And  yet  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  we  have  studied  them  not  too  much  as  doc- 
trinal treatises,  perhaps,  but  too  little  as  familiar  letters 
to  friends  and  to  beloved  churches,  and  still  less  as  lit- 
erary models  for  the  letter  and  the  essay.  It  might  re- 
fresh and  exalt  our  theological  and  ethical  treatises,  if 
their  authors  would  study  awhile  with  Paul  in  his  style 


238  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

and  method.  They  might  form  a  juster  conception  of 
his  doctrines  and  principles.  They  certainly  would  un- 
derstand better  how  to  use  his  doctrines,  and  how  to 
apply  his  principles. 

(4)  Fiction  is  represented  in  the  New  Testament  in 
the  parables  of  Jesus.  It  is  also  represented  in  the  apoc- 
ryphal books  of  Tobit  and  Susanna,  and  in  the  4th 
book  of  Maccabees  in  the  story  about  the  seven  heroic 
Maccabee  sons,  and,  in  i  Esdras  iv.,  in  the  legend  about 
Zerubbabel  and  Truth.  It  is  true  these  are  not  canonical, 
but  they  illustrate  the  part  that  fiction  played  in  the  lit- 
erature of  the  Hebrews  of  the  centuries  between  the 
Testaments.  We  might  also  bring  into  consideration 
the  fiction  of  the  Haggada  of  the  Jews  in  the  various 
midrashim* 

Many  divines  have  thought  that  the  books  of  Esther 
and  Jonah  should  be  classed  as  fiction.f  Any  a  priort 
objection  to  fiction  as  unworthy  of  inspiration  is  de- 
barred by  the  parables  of  Jesus.  With  reference  to  these 
books  it  must,  therefore,  be  entirely  a  question  of  induc- 
tion of  facts.  The  beautiful  story  of  Zerubbabel  and 
Truth,  with  its  sublime  lesson,  "  Truth  is  mighty,,  and 
will  prevail,"  loses  nothing  in  its  effect  by  being  a  story 
and  not  history.  The  wonderful  devotion  and  self-sac- 
rifice of  the  Maccabee  mother,  and  the  patient  endur- 
ance of  the  most  horrible  tortures  by  her  sons,  which 
have  stirred  and  thrilled  many  a  heart,  and  strengthened 
many  a  pipus  martyr  to  the  endurance  of  persecution, 
are  no  less  powerful  as  ideal  than  as  real.  So  it  would 
be  with  Jonah  and  Esther  if  they  could  be  proved  to  be 
fiction.     The  model  of  patriotic  devotion,  the  lesson  of 


*  See    the    great    collection    in  Wflnsche,   Bibliotheca  Rabbinica,   Leipzig, 
X880-84.  • 

+  Noldeke,  Alttest.  Literatur,  i868,  p.  71,  seq. 


LITERARY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  £39 

the  universality  of  divine  providence  and  grace,  would  be 
still  as  forcible,  and  the  gain  would  be  at  least  equal  to 
the  loss,  if  they  were  to  be  regarded  as  inspired  ideals 
rather  than  inspired  statements  of  the  real.  The  sign  of 
the  prophet  Jonah  as  a  symbol  of  the  resurrection  of  Je- 
sus Christ  is  as  forcible,  if  the  symbol  has  an  ideal  basis, 
as  if  it  had  an  historical  basis.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the 
element  of  fiction  is  sufficiently  well  represented  in  the 
Old  Testament  in  the  story  of  the  Shulamite  in  the 
Song  of  Songs,  and  in  the  elaboration  of  the  historical 
person  and  trials  of  Job  into  one  of  the  grandest  ideals 
of  the  imagination,  and  in  the  soul  struggles  of  Kohe- 
leth. 

These  are  then  the  most  general  forms  of  prose  litera- 
ture contained  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.  They  vie  with 
the  literary  models  of  the  best  nations  of  ancient  and 
modern  times.  They  ought  to  receive  the  study  of  all 
Christian  men  and  women.  They  present  the  greatest 
variety  of  form,  the  noblest  themes,  and  the  very  best 
models.  Nowhere  else  can  we  find  more  admirable 
resthetic  as  well  as  moral  and  religious  culture.  Chris- 
tian people  should  urge  that  our  schools  and  colleges 
should  attend  to  this  literature,  and  not  neglect  it  for 
the  sake  of  the  Greek  and  Roman,  which  with  all  their 
rare  forms  and  extraordinary  grace  and  beauty,  yet  lack 
the  oriental  wealth  of  color,  depths  of  passion,  heights 
of  rapture,  holy  aspirations,  transcendent  hopes,  and 
transforming  moral  poweT. 

Our  college  and  university  training  and  the  drift  of 
modern  thought  lead  us  far  away  from  oriental  thought 
and  emotion,  and  the  literature  that  expresses  them. 
Few  there  are  who  have  entered  into  the  spirit  and  life 
of  the  Orient  as  it  is  presented  to  us  in  the  sacred 
Scriptures.     It  is  not  remarkable  that  the  Old  Testa- 


240  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

ment  has  been  to  many  a  dead  book,  exciting  no  living, 
heartfelt  interest.  Here  is  a  new  and  interesting  field 
for  the  student  of  our  day.  The  young  men  are  enter- 
ing into  it  with  enthusiasm.  The  church  of  Christ  will 
be  greatly  enriched  by  the  fruits  of  their  labors. 

IV.   THE  CREDIBILITY  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES. 

This  is  the  most  delicate  and  difficult  question  of  the 
higher  criticism  with  reference  to  all  literature,  but  es- 
pecially with  reference  to  biblical  literature.  That  there 
are  errors  in  the  present  text  of  our  Bible,  and  inconsist- 
encies, it  seems  to  us  vain  to  deny.  We  have  come 
upon  some  of  them  in  the  course  of  our  investigations 
(pp.  191,  192).  There  are  chronological,  geographical,  and 
other  circumstantial  inconsistencies  and  errors  which  we 
should  not  hesitate  to  acknowledge.  These  errors  arise 
in  the  department  of  exegesis  more  than  in  higher  criti- 
cism. It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  circumstantial, 
incidental  errors,  such  as  might  arise  from  the  inadver- 
tence or  lack  of  information  of  an  author,  are  any  im- 
peachment of  his  credibility.  If  we  distinguish  between 
revelation  and  inspiration,  and  yet  insist  upon  inerrancy 
with  reference  to  the  latter  as  well  as  the  former,  we  vir- 
tually do  away  with  the  distinction  ;  for  no  mere  man 
can  escape  altogether  human  errors  unless  divine  revela- 
tion set  even  the  most  familiar  things  in  a  new  and  in- 
fallible light,  and  also  so  control  him  that  he  cannot 
make  a  slip  of  the  eye  or  the  hand,  a  fault  in  the  imagi- 
nation, in  conception,  in  reasoning,  in  rhetorical  figure, 
or  in  grammatical  expression ;  and  indeed  so  raise  him 
above  his  fellows  tha;t  he  shall  see  through  all  their 
errors  in  science  and  philosophy  as  well  as  theology, 
and  anticipate  the  discoveries  in  all  branches  of  knowl- 
edge by  thousands  of  years.     Errors  of  inadvertence  in 


LITERARY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  241 

minor  details,  where  the  author's  position  and  charac- 
ter are  well  known,  do  not  destroy  his  credibility  as  a 
witness  in  any  literature  or  any  court  of  justice.  It  isi 
not  to  be  presumed  that  divine  inspiration  lifted  the 
author  above  his  age  any  more  than  was  necessary  to 
convey  the  divine  revelation  and  the  divine  instruction 
with  infallible  certainty  to  mankind.  We  have  to  take 
into  account  the  extent  of  the  author's  human  knowl- 
edge, his  point  of  view  and  type  of  thought,  his  meth- 
ods of  reasoning  and  illustration.  The  question  of  credi- 
bility is  to  be  distinguished  from  infallibility.  The  form 
is  credible,  the  substance  alone  is  infallible.  It  is  claimed 
by  some  divines  that  the  inerrancy'^  of  Scripture  is  es- 
sential to  (he  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  and  that  "  a 
proved  error  in  Scripture  contradicts  not  only  our  doc- 
trine, but  the  Scripture  claims,  and  therefore  its  inspira- 
tion in  making  those  claims."f  But  inerrancy  is  neither 
a  scriptural  nor  a  symbolical  nor  a  historical  term  in 
connection  with  the  subject  of  Inspiration.  These  rep- 
resentations of  the  doctrine  of  inspiration  have  no  suf>- 
port  in  the  symbols  or  faith  of  the  Reformation,  or  in 
the  Westminster  Confession,  or  in  the  Scriptures.  We 
hold  with  our  revered  instructor,  the  late  Henry  B. 
Smith,  to  plenary  inspiration  rather  than  verbal.  It  may 
be  as  it  is  stated.  "  It  (plenary  inspiration)  is  in  itself 
indefinite,  and  its  use  contributes  nothing,  either  to  the 
precision  or  the  emphasis  of  the  definition  ";  %  but  this 
is  as  far  as  the  Scriptures  or  the  symbols  of  faith  war- 
rant us  in  going ;  it  is  as  far  as  it  is  at  all  safe  in  the 
present  juncture  to  advance  in  definition.  Verbal  inspi- 
ration is  doubtless  a  more  precise  and  emphatic  defini- 

*  1"    L.  Patton,  Pentateuchal  Criticism,  Presbyterian  Review,  IV.,  p.  363, 
t  Dis.  Hodge  and  Warfield,  art.  Inspiration,  Presbyterian  Review,  II.,  p. 

X  Drs.  Hodge  and  Warfield  in  /.  c,  p.  232. 
11 


242  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

/  tion  than  plenary  inspiration  ;  but  this  very  emphasis 
I  and  precision  imperil  the  doctrine  of  inspiration  itself 
!  by  bringing  it  into  conflict  with  a  vast  array  of  objec- 
/  tions  along  the  whole  line  of  Scripture  and  history, 
which  must  be  met  and  overcome  in  incessant  warfare, 
where  both  sides  may  count  on  doubtful  victories,  but 
where  the  weak,  ignorant,  and  hesitating,  stumble  and 
fall  int.o  divers  temptations,  and  may  make  shipwreck  of 
their  faith.  From  the  point  of  view  of  biblical  criticism, 
we  are  not  prepared  to  admit  errors  in  the  Scriptures  in 
the  original  autographs,  until  they  shall  be  proven. 
Very  many  of  those  alleged  have  already  received  suffi- 
cient or  plausible  explanation  ;  others  are  in  dispute 
between  truth-seeking  scholars,  and  satisfactory  explana- 
tions may  hereafter  be  given.  New  difficulties  are  con- 
stantly arising  and  being  overcome.  It  is  difficult  on 
the  one  side  to  demonstrate  an  error,  as  it  is  on  the 
other  side  to  demonstrate  that  the  Scriptures  must  be 
absolutely  errorless.  It  is  a  question  of  fact  to  which  all 
theories  and  doctrines  must  yield.  It  cannot  be  deter- 
mined by  « /r/<?r/  definitions  and  statements  on  either 
side.  Indeed  the  original  autographs  have  been  lost  for 
ages  and  can  never  be  recovered.  How  can' we  deter- 
mine whether  they  were  absolutely  errorless  or  not  ?  To 
assume  that  it  must  be  so,  as  a  deduction  from  the  theory 
of  verbal  inspiration,  is  to  beg  the  whole  question.  -  ^ 
In  the  meanwhile  we  confidently  affirm  that  the  doc-y 
trine  of  inspiration  as  stated  in  the  symbols  of  faith  will  \ 
maintain  its  integrity  in  spite  of  any  circumstantial  errors  / 
that  may  be  admitted  or  proved  in  the  Scriptures,  so  ( 
long  as  these  errors  do  not  directly  or  indirectly  disturb 
the  infallibility  of  its  matters  of  faith  or  of  the  historic  - 
events  and  institutions  with  which  they  are  inseparably 
united. 


LITERARY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  243 

We  are  convinced  that  Richard  Baxter  more  correctly 
states  the  church  doctrine  when  he  says  : 

"And  here  I  must  tell  you  a  great  and  needful  truth,  which  .... 
Christians  fearing  to  confess,  by  overdoing  tempt  men  to  Infidelity. 
The  Scripture  is  like  a  man's  body,  where  some  parts  are  but  for 
the  preservation  of  the  rest,  and  may  be  maimed  without  death : 
The  sense  is  the  soul  of  the  Scripture  ;  and  the  letters  but  the  body, 
or  vehicle.  The  doctrine  of  the  creed.  Lord's  Prayer  and  Decalogue, 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  is  the  vital  part,  and  Christianity 
itself.  The  Old  Testament  letter  (written  as  we  have  it  about  Ezra's 
time)  is  that  vehicle  which  is  as  imperfect  as  the  Revelation  of  these 
times  was  :  But  as  after  Christ's  incarnation  and  ascension,  the 
Spirit  was  more  abundantly  g^ven,  and  the  Revelation  more  perfect 
and  sealed,  so  the  doctrine  is  more  full  and  the  vehicle  or  body,  that 
is,  the  words  are  less  imperfect  and  more  sure  to  us ;  so  that  he  that 
doubteth  of  the  truth  of  some  words  in  the  Old  Testament,  or  of 
some  circumstances  in  the  New,  hath  no  reason  therefore  to  doubt 
of  the  Christian  religion,  of  which  these  writings  are  but  the  v'ehicle 
or  body,  sufficient  to  ascertain  us  of  the  truth  of  the  History  and 
Doctrine."* 

Higher  criticism  comes  into  conflict  with  the  authority 
of  Scripture  when  it  finds  that  its  statements  are  not 
authoritative  and  its  revelations  are  not  credible.  If  the 
credibility  of  a  book  is  impeached,  its  divine  authority 
and  inspiration  are  also  impeached.  But  to  destroy  his 
credibility  something  more  must  be  presented  tharf 
trivial  matters  and  minute  details  that  do  not  affect  the 
author's  scope  of  argument  or  his  religious  instructions. 
We  hold  that  it  is  an  unsafe  position  to  assume,  that  we 
must  first  prove  the  credibility,  inerrancy,  and  infallibil- 
ity of  a  book  ere  we  accept  its  authority.  If  inquirers 
waited  until  all  the  supposed  errors  in  our  canonical 
books  were  satisfactorily  explained  they  would  never 
accept  the  Bible  as  a  divine  revelation.     To  press  the 


*  The  Catechizing  of  Families.  1683,  p.  36. 


244  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

critics  to  this  dilemma,  inerrancy  or  uninspiredy  might 
catch  the  critics  on  one  of  the  horns  if  they  were  not 
critical  enough  to  detect  the  fallacy  and  escape,  but  it 
would  be  more  likely  to  catch  the  people,  who  know 
nothing  of  criticism,  and  so  undermine  and  destroy  their 
faith. 

The  higher  criticism  has  already  strengthened  the 
credibility  of  Scripture.  It  has. studied  the  human  feat- 
ures of  the  Bible  and  learned  the  wondrous  variety  of 
form  and  color  assumed  by  the  divine  revelation.  Many 
of  the  supposed  inconsistencies  have  been  found  to  be 
different  modes  of  representing  the  same  thing,  comple- 
mentary to  one  another  and  combining  to  give  a  fuller 
representation  than  any  one  mode  could  ever  have  given, 
as  the  two  sides  of  the  stereoscopic  view  give  a  represen- 
tation superior  to  that  of  the  ordinary  photograph.  The 
unity  of  statement  found  in  the  midst  of  such  wondrous 
variety  of  detail  in  form  and  color  is  vastly  more  con- 
vincing than  a  unity  of  mere  coincidence  such  as  the 
older  harmonists  sought  to  obtain  by  stretching  and 
straining  the  Scriptures  on  the  procrustean  bed  of  their 
hair-splitting  scholasticism.  Many  of  the  supposed  in- 
consistencies have  been  found  to  arise  from  different 
stages  of  divine  revelation,  in  the  earlier  of  which  God 
condescended  to  the  weakness  and  the  ignorance  of  men, 
and  gave  to  them  the  knowledge  that  they  could  appro- 
priate, and  held  up  to  them  ideals  that  they  could  under- 
stand as  to  their  essence  if  not  in  all  their  details.  The 
earlier  are  shadows  and  types,  crude  and  imperfect  re|>- 
resentations  of  better  things  to  follow.*  Many  of  the 
supposed  inconsistencies  result  from  the  popular  and 
unscientific  language  of  the  Bible,  thus  approaching  the 


*  Hebrews  viii.  5  ;  x.  i ;  xi.  40  ;  Col.  ii.  17. 


LITER.VEY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  245 

people  of  God  in  different  ages  in  concrete  forms  and 
avoiding  the  abstract.  The  inconsistencies  have  resulted 
from  the  scholastic  abstractions  of  those  who  would  use 
the  Bible  as  a  text-book,  but  they  do  not  exist  in  the 
concrete  of  the  Bible  itself.  Many  of  the  supposed  in- 
consistencies arise  from  a  different  method  of  logic  and 
rhetoric  in  the  Oriental  writers  and  the  attempt  of  mod- 
ern scholars  to  measure  them  by  Occidental  methods. 
Many  of  the  inconsistencies  result  from  the  neglect  to 
appreciate  the  poetic  and  imaginative  element  in  the 
Bible  and  a  lack  of  aesthetic  sense  on  the  part  of  its  in- 
terpreters. The  higher  criticism  has  already  removed  a 
large  number  of  difficulties  and  will  remove  many  more 
when  it  has  become  a  more  common  study  among 
scholars. 

"  The  Bible  conveys  to  us  its  didactic  lesson  in  a  very  occasional, 
indirect,  and  indefinite  way.  Its  method  is  literary,  not  dogmatic. 
It  teaches,  as  it  were,  without  intending  to  teach  ;  relates  a  history, 
and  leaves  us  to  infer  the  lesson  ;  indites  a  psalm  expressive  of  the 
sentiments  awakened  in  the  writer's  mind  by  contemplation  of  the 
manifestation  which  God  has  made  of  Himself,  and  leaves  us  to  find 
out  by  poetic  sympathy  the  thought  embodied.  The  Bible  contains 
all  sorts  of  literature — histories,  prophecies,  poems  lyric  and  dramat- 
ic, proverbs,  parables,  epistles.  All  are  profitable  for  doctrine,  but 
none  are  dogmatic  ;  all  are  excellent  for  religious  edification,  but  dis- 
appointing from  the  point  of  view  of  scholastic  theology.  Not  even 
the  epistles  of  Paul  can  properly  be  characterised  as  dogmatic  in  the 
scholastic  sense.  The  four  great  epistles  are  full  of  doctrine  of  the 
most  important  character,  but  it  is  conveyed  in  an  occasional,  ab- 
rupt, vehement  way,  by  a  man  engaged  in  a  great  controversy  as  to 
the  meaning  of  Christianity, — whose  bosom  is  agitated  by  strong 
.emotion,  and  whose  language  is  a  faithful  reflectipn  of  his  feelings — 
eloquent,  but  inexact ;  crowded  with  deep,  grand  thoughts,  but  with 
thoughts  that  struggle  for  utterance,  and  are  sometimes  only  half 
uttered  in  broken  sentences,  in  which  grammar  is  shipwrecked  on 
the  rock  of  heroic-  passion.  The  writing  is  noble.  Divine,  inspired 
in  every  sense  of  the  term,  most  profitable  for  doctrine  ;  but  how  dif- 


246  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

ferent  from  the  style  of  dogmatic  theology,  with  its  careful  defini- 
tions, and  minute  distinctions,  and  cold,  passionless,  scientific  dic- 
tion !"  * 

The  literary  study  of  the  Bible  is  appropriately  called 
higher  criticism  to  distinguish  it  from  lower  criticism 
which  devotes  itself  to  the  study  of  original  texts  and 
versions.  There  are  few  who  have  the  patience,  the  per- 
sistence, the  life-long  industry  in  the  examination  of  the 
minute  details  that  make  up  the  field  of  the  lower  or 
textual  criticism.  But  the  higher  criticism  is  more  at- 
tractive. It  has  to  do  with  literary  forms  and  styles  and 
models.  It  appeals  to  the  imagination  and  the  aesthetic 
taste  as  well  as  to  the  logical  faculty.  It  kindles  the  en- 
thusiasm of  the  young.  It  will  more  and  more  enlist 
the  attention  of  men  of  culture  and  the  general  pub- 
lic. It  is  the  most  inviting  and  fruitful  field  of  bibhcal 
'  study  in  our  day.  Many  who  are  engaged  in  it  are  ra- 
tionalistic and  unbelieving,  and  they  are  using  it  with 
disastrous  effect  upon  the  Scriptures  and 'the  orthodox 
faith.  There  is  also  a  prejudice  in  some  quarters  against 
these  studies  and  an  apprehension  as  to  the  results. 
This  prejudice  is  unreasonable.  This  apprehension  is 
to  be  deprecated.  It  is  impossible  to  prevent  discus- 
sion. The  church  is  challenged  to  meet  the  issue.  It 
is  a  call  of  Providence  to  conflict  and  to  the  triumph  of 
evangelical  truth.  The  Divine  Word  will  vindicate  it- 
self in  all  its  parts.  These  are  not  the  times  for  negli- 
gent Elis  or  timorous  and  presumptuous  Uzzahs.  Brave 
Samuels  and  ardent  Davids  who  fear  not  to  employ  new 
methods  and  engage  in  new  enterprises  and  adapt  them- 
selves to  altered  situations,  will  overcome  the  Philistines 
with  their  own  weapons.     The  higher  criticism  has  rent 


*  A.  B.  Bruce,  The  due/  End  of  Revelation^  London,  1881,  p.  284,  seq. 


LITERARY  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE.  247 

the  crust,  with  which  rabbinical  tradition  and  Christian 
scholasticism  have  encased  the  Old  Testament,  overlay- 
ing the  poetic  and  prophetic  elements  with  the  legal  and 
the  ritual.  Younger  biblical  scholars  have  caught  glimpses 
of  the  beauty  and  glory  of  biblical  literature.  The  Old 
Testament  is  studied  as  never  before  in  the  Christian 
church.  It  is  beginning  to  exert  its  charming  influence 
upon  ministers  and  people.  Christian  theology  and 
Christian  life  will  ere  long  be  enriched  by  it.  God's 
blessing  is  in  it  to  those  who  have  the  Christian  wisdom 
to  recognize  and  the  grace  to  receive  and  employ  it. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

HEBREW     POETRY. 

The  Hebrews  were  from  the  most  ancient  times  a  re- 
markably literary  and  poetic  people.  Poetry  pervaded 
and  influenced  their  entire  life  and  history.  The  Bible 
has  preserved  to  us  a  large  amount  of  this  poetry,  but  it 
is  almost  exclusively  religious  poetry.  And  notwith- 
standing that  the  most  ancient  poetry  of  Assyria,  Baby- 
lon, and  Egypt  is  likewise  religious,  we  yet  have  abun- 
dant evidence  from  the  poetic  lines  and  strophes  quoted 
in  the  historical  books,  as  well  as  statements  with  regard 
to  other  poetry  not  included  in  the  collections  known  to 
us, — abundant  evidence  that  a  large  proportion  of  the 
poetic  literature  of  the  Hebrews,  relating  to  the  every- 
day life  of  the  people,  and  to  those  national,  social,  and 
historical  phases  of  experience  that  were  not  strictly  re- 
ligious, has  been  lost  to  us.  For  reference  is  made  to 
the  book  of  the  wars  of  Jahveh  (Num.  xxi.  14),  and  the 
book  of  Yashar  (Josh.  x.  13  ;  2  Sam.  i.  18),  anthologies  of 
poetry  earlier  than  any  of  the  poetic  collections  in  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures ;  and  also  to  a  great  number  of  songs 
and  poems  of  Solomon  with  reference  to  flowers,  plants, 
trees,  and  animals  (i  Kings  iv.  32,  33).  The  mention  of 
Ethan,  Heman,  Chalcol  and  Darda,  the  sons  of  Mahol, 
in  connection  with  the  wisdom  and  poems  of  Solomon, 
(348) 


HEBREW  POETRY.  249 

opens  a  wide  field  of  conjecture  with  regard  to  the  great 
amount  of  their  poetry  which  has  been  lost  (i  Kings 
iv.  31).  And  if  we  consider  that  such  a  masterpiece  as 
the  book  of  Job  is  the  product  of  a  sacred  poet  whose 
name,  or  at  least  connection  with  the  poem,  has  been 
lost,  how  many  more  such  great  poems  and  lesser  ones 
may  have  disappeared  from  the  memory  of  the  Hebrew 
people  during  their  exile  and  prolonged  afflictions.  For 
we  cannot  believe  that  such  sublime  odes  as  Exod.  xv. 
.and  Judges  v.  could  exist  alone.  These  masterpieces  of 
lyric  poetry  must  have  been  the  flower  and  fruit  of  a 
long  and  varied  poetical  development. 

Prof.  Reuss  admirably  states  the  breadth  of  Hebrew 
poetry : 

"  All  that  moved  the  souls  of  the  multitude  was  expressed  in  song ; 
it  was  indispensable  to  the  sports  of  peace,  it  was  a  necessity  for  the 
rest  from  the  battle,  it  cheered  the  feast,  and  the  marriage  (Is.  v.  12  ; 
Amos.  vi.  5 ;  Judges  xiv.),  it  lamented  in  the  hopeless  dirge  for  the 
dead  (2  Sam.  iii.  33),  it  united  the  masses,  it  blessed  the  individual, 
and  was  everywhere  the  lever  of  culture.  Young  men  and  maidens 
vied  with  one  another  in  learning  beautiful  songs,  and  cheered  with 
them  the  festival  gatherings  of  the  villages,  and  the  stiri  higher  assem- 
blies at  the  sanctuary  of  the  tribes.  The  maidens  at  Shilo  went  yearly 
with  songs  and  dances  into  the  vineyards  (Judges  xxi.  19),  and  those 
of  Gilead  repeated  the  sad  story  of  Jeptha's  daughter  (Judges  xi.  40), 
the  boys  learned  David's  lament  over  Jonathan  (2  Sam.  i.  18)  ;  shep- 
herds and  hunters  at  their  evening  rests  by  the  springs  of  the  wilder- 
ness sang  songs  to  the  accompaniment  of  the  flute  (Judges  v.  11). 
The  discovery  of  a  fountain  was  the  occasion  of  joy  and  song  (Num. 
xxi.  17).  The  smith  boasted  defiantly  of  the  products  of  his  labour 
(Gen.  iv.  23).  Riddles  and  witty  sayings  enlivened  the  social  meal 
(Judges  xiv.  12  ;  i  Kings  x.).  Even  into  the  lowest  spheres  the  spirit 
of  poetry  wandered  and  ministered  to  the  most  ignoble  pursuits " 
(Is.  xxiii.  1 5  seq^.* 


Aii.f/el>.  Poesie,  Yi^rzo^  Encyklopadie,  ii.  Aufl.,  V.,  p.  672,  seq. 


250  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

I.   THE  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  HEBREW  POETRY.. 

In  the  Hebrew  poetry  preserved  to  us  in  the  sacred 
Scriptures  we  observe  the  following  characteristics : 

I.  //  is  religious  poetry.     Indeed  it  was  most  suitable 
that  Hebrew  poetry  should  have  this  as  its  fundamental 
characteristic;  for  the  Hebrews  had  been  selected  by 
God  from  all  the  nations  to  be  His  own  choice  possession, 
His  first-bom  among  the  nations  of  the  earth  (Exod.  iv. 
22;  xix.  5);  and  therefore  it  was  their  distinctive  inher- 
itance that  they  should  be  a  religious  people  above  all 
things  else.     And  it  is  of  the  very  nature  of  religion  that 
it  should  express  itself  in  song;  for  religion  lays  hold  of 
the  deepest  emotions  of  the  human  soul,  and  causes  the 
heart-strings  to  vibrate  with  the  most  varied  and  power- 
ful feelings  of  which  man  is  capable,  which  can  only  find 
expression  through  the  voice  and  pen  in  those  forms  of 
human  language  which  alone  by  their  varied  movement 
can  express  these  varied  emotions.     From  this  point  of 
view  Hebrew  poetry  has  unfolded  a  rich  and  manifold 
literature  that  not  only  surpasses  in  this  regard  the  no- 
blest products  of   the  most    cultivated   Indo-Germanic 
races,  the  Greek,  the  Roman,  and  the  Hindu  ;  but  also 
lies  at  the  root  of  the  religious  poetry  of  the  Jewish 
synagogue  and  the  church  of    Christ, -as  their  fruitful 
source,  their   perennial  well-spring  of  life  and  growth. 
No  poetry  has  such  power  over  the  souls  of  men  as  He- 
brew poetry.     David's  psalms,  Solomon's  sentences,  Isa- 
iah's  predictions,  the   trials   of  Job,  are  as   fresh   and 
potent  in  their  influence  as  when  first  uttered  by  their 
masterly  authors.     They  are  world-wide  in  their  sway ; 
they  are  everlasting  in  their  sweep.     The  songs  of  Moses 
and  the  Lamb  are  sung  by  heavenly  choirs. 
S.  It  is  simple  and  natural.     Ewald  states  that^"  He- 


HEBREW  POETRY.  251 

brew  poetr>-  has  a  simplicity  and  transparency  that  can 
scarcely  be   found  anywhere  else — a  natural  sublimity 
that  knows  but  little  of  fixed  forms  of  art,  and  even 
when  art  comes  into  play  it  ever  remains  unconscious 
and  careless  of  it.     Compared  with  the  poetry  of  other 
ancient  peoples,  it  appears  as  of  a  more  simple  and  child- 
like age  of  mankind,  overflowing  with  an  internal  fulness 
and  grace  that  troubles  itself  but  little  with  external  or- 
nament and  nice  artistic  law."*     Hence  it  is  that  the 
distinction  between  poetry  and  rhetorical  prose  is  so 
slight  in  Hebrew  literature.     The  Hebrew  orator,  espec- 
ially if  a  prophet,  inspired  with  the  potent  influences  of 
the  prophetic  spirit,  and  stirred  to  the  depths  of  his  soul 
with  the  divine  impulse,  speaks  naturally  in  an  elevated 
poetic  style,  and  accordingly  the  greater  part  of  prophecy 
is  poetic.     And  so  when  the  priest  or  king  stands  before 
the  people  to  bless  them,  or  lead  them  in  their  devo- 
tions, their  benedictions  and  prayers  assume  the  poetic 
movement.     Thus  there  is  the  closest  correspondence 
between  the  emotion  and  its  expression,  as  the  emotion 
gives  natural  movement  and  harmonious  undulations  to 
the  expression    by  its  own   pulsations   and  vibrations. 
These  pulsations  are  expressed  by  the  beat  of' the  accent, 
which,  falling  as  a  rule  on  the  ultimate  in  Hebrew  words, 
strikes  with  peculiar  power ;  and  the  vibrations  are  ex- 
pressed in  accordance  with  the  great  variety  of  movement 
of  which  they  are  capable  in  the  parallelism  of  members. 
As  Robertson  Smith  correctly  says :  "Among  the  He- 
brews all  thought  stands  in  immediate  contact  with  liv- 
ing impressions  and  feelings,  and  so  if  incapable  of  rising 
to  the  abstract  is  prevented  from  sinking  to  the  unreal."f 
This  faithful  mirroring  of  the  concrete  in  the  poetic  ex- 


*  Die  Dic/iter,  I.,  p.  15.  f  British  Quarterly,  January,  1S77,  P-  36. 


252  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

pression  is  the  secret  of  its  power  over  the  masses  of 
mankind  who  are  sensible  of  its  immediate  influence 
upon  them,  although  they  may  be  incapable  of  giving  a 
logical  analysis  of  it. 

3.  It  is  essentially  subjective.  The  poet  sings  or  writes 
from  the  vibrating  chords  of  his  own  soul's  emotions, 
presenting  the  varied  phases  of  his  own  experience,  in 
sorrow  and  joy,  in  faith  and  hope,  in  love  and  adoration, 
in  conflict,  agony,  and  despair,  in  ecstasy  and  transport, 
in  vindication  of  himself  and  imprecation  upon  his  ene- 
mies. Even  when  the  external  world  is  attentively  re- 
garded, it  is  not  for  itself  alone,  but  on  account  of  its 
relation  to  the  poet's  own  soul  as  he  is  brought  into 
contact  and  sympathy  with  it.  This  characteristic  of 
Hebrew  poetry  is  so  marked  in  the  Psalter,  Proverbs, 
and  book  of  Job,  as  to  give  their  entire  theology  an  an- 
thropological character.  Man's  inmost  soul,  and  all  the 
vast  variety  of  human  experience,  are  presented  in  He- 
brew poetry  as  the  common  experience  of  humanity  of 
all  ages  and  of  all  lands. 

4.  It  is  sententious.  The  Hebrew  poet  expresses  his 
ethical  and  religious  emotions  in  brief,  terse,  pregnant 
sentences  loosely  related  with  one  another,  and  often 
without  any  essential  connection,  except  through  the 
common  unity  of  the  central  theme.  They  are  uttered 
as  intuitions,  that  which  is  immediately  seen  and  felt, 
rather  than  as  products  of  logical  reflection,  or  careful 
elaborations  of  a  constructive  imagination.  The  parts 
of  the  poem,  greater  and  lesser,  are  distinct  parts,  the 
distinction  often  being  so  sharp  and  abrupt  that  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  distinguish  and  separate  the  various  sections  of 
the  poem,  owing  to  the  very  fact  of  the  great  variety  of 
possibility  of  division,  in  which  it  is  a  question  simply  of 
more  or  less.     The  author's  soul  vibrates  with  the  beat- 


HEBREW  POETRT.  253 

ings  of  the  central  theme,  so  that  the  movement  of  the 
poem  is  sometimes  from  the  same  base  to  a  more  ad- 
vanced thought,  then  from  a  corresponding  base,  or  from 
a  contrasted  one  ;  and  at  times,  indeed,  step  by  step  in 
marching  or  climbing  measures.  As  Aglen  says,  "  He- 
brew eloquence  is  a  lively  succession  of  vigorous  and  in- 
cisive sentences,  producing  in  literature  the  same  effect 
which  the  style  called  arabesque  produces  in  architect- 
ure. Hebrew  wisdom  finds  its  complete  utterance  in 
the  short,  pithy  proverb.  Hebrew  poetry  wants  no  fur- 
ther art  than  a  rhythmical  adaptation  of  the  same  sen- 
tentious style."*  Hence  the  complexity  and  confusion 
of  Hebrew  poetry  to  minds  which  would  find  strict 
logical  relations  between  the  various  members  of  the 
poem,  and  constrain  them  after  occidental  methods. 
Hence  the  extravagance  of  Hebrew  figures  of  speech, 
which  transgress  all  classic  rules  of  style,  heaping^  up  and 
mixing  metaphors,  presenting  the  theme  in  such  a  variety 
of  images,  and  with  such  exceeding  richness  of  coloring, 
that  the  western  critic  is  perplexed,  confused,  and  bewil- 
dered in  striving  to  harmonize  them  into  a  consistent 
whole.  Hebrew  poetry  appeals  through  numberless  con- 
crete images  to  the  emotional  and  religious  nature,  and 
can  only  be  apprehended  by  entering  into  sympathetic 
relations  with  its  own  poetic  spirit,  and  by  following  the 
guidance  of  its  members  to  their  central  theme,  to  which 
they  are  all  in  subjection  as  to  a  prince,  while  in  com- 
parative independence  of  one  another. 

5.  It  is  realistic.  Professor  Shairp  says  :  "  Whenever 
the  soul  comes  into  living  contact  with  fact  and  truth, 
.whenever  it  realizes  these  with  more  than  common  viv- 
idness, there  arises  a  thrill  of  joy,  a  glow  of  emotion. 


»  Biile  Educator,  Vol  II.,  p.  340. 


254  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

And  the  expression  of  that  thrill,  that  glow,  is  poetry. 
The  nobler  the  objects,  the  nobler  will  be  the  poetry  they 
awaken  when  they  fall  on  the  heart  of  a  true  poet."  * 
Now  the  Hebrew  poets  entered  into  deep  and  intimate 
fellowship  with  external  nature,  the  world  of  animal,  veg- 
etable, and  material  forces  ;  and  by  regarding  them  as  in 
immediate  connection  with  God  and  man,  dealt  only 
with  the  noblest  themes.  For  to  the  Hebrew  poet  all 
nature  was  animate  with  the  influence  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  who  was  the  agent  in  the  creation,  brooding  over 
the  chaos,  who  conducts  the  whole  universe  in  its  devel- 
opment toward  the  exaltation  of  the  creature  to  closer 
communion  with  God,  so  that  it  may  attain'  its  glory  in 
the  divine  glory.  Hence  all  nature  is  aglow  with  the 
glory  of  God,  declaring  Him  in  His  being  and  attributes, 
praising  Him  for  His  wisdom  and  goodness.  His  minis- 
ters to  do  His  pleasure,  rejoicing  at  His  advent  and  tak- 
ing part  in  His  theophanies.  And  so  it  is  the  represen- 
tation of  Hebrew  poetry  that  all  nature  shares  in  the 
destiny  of  man.  In  its  origin  it  led  by  insensible  grada- 
tions to  man,  its  crown  and  head,  the  masterpiece  of  the 
divine  workman.  In  his  fall  it  shared  with  him  in  the 
curse  ;  and  to  his  redemption  it  ever  looks  forward,  with 
longing  hope  and  throes  of  expectation,  as  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  entire  creation.  And  so,  there  is  no  poetry 
so  sympathetic  with  nature,  so  realistic,  so  sensuo'us  and 
glowing  in  its  representations  of  nature,  as  Hebrew  poe- 
try. This  feature  of  the  sacred  writings,  which  has  ex- 
posed them  to  the  attacks  of  unbelieving  men  of  science, 
presenting  a  wide  and  varied  field  of  criticism,  is  really 
one  of  their  most  striking  features  of  excellence  ;  com- 
mending itself  to  the  believing  student  of  nature  in  that. 


*  Poetic  Interpretation  of  Nature,  p.  15. 


HEBREW  POETRY.  255 

V 

while  it  does  not  teach  truths  and  facts  of  science  in  sci- 
entific forms,  yet  it  alone,  of  ancient  poetry,  has  laid 
hold  of  the  eternal  principles,  the  most  essential  facts 
and  forms  of  objects  of  nature,  with  a  sense  of  truth  and 
beauty  that  none  but  sacred  poets,  enlightened  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  have  been  enabled  to  do.  Hence  it  is 
that  not  even  the  sensuous  romantic  poetry  of  modern 
times,  enriched  with  the  vast  stores  of  research  of  mod- 
em science,  can  equal  the  poetry  of  the  Bible  in  its 
faithfulness  to  nature,  its  vividness  and  graphic  power, 
its  true  and  intense  admiration  of  the  beauties  of  nature 
and  reverence  of  its  sublimities. 

II.  THE  FORMS  OF  HEBREW  POETRY. 

I 

The  leading  characteristics  of  Hebrew  poetry  deter- 
mine its  forms  of  expression ;  its  internal  spirit  sways 
and  controls  the  form  with  absolute,  yea,  even  capricious, 
power.  The  Hebrew  poets  seem  acquainted  with  those 
various  forms  of  artistic  expression  used  by  the  poets  of 
other  nations  to  adorn  their  poetry,  measure  its  move- 
ments, and  mark  its  lines  and  strophes ;  yet  they  do  not 
employ  them  as  rules  or  principles  of  their  art,  constrain- 
ing their  thought  and  emotion  into  conformity  with 
them,  but  rather  use  them  freely  for  particular  purposes 
and  momentary  effects.  Indeed  Hebrew  poetry  attained 
its  richest  development  at  a  period  when  these  various 
external  beauties  of  form  had  not  been  elaborated  into 
a  system,  as  was  the  case  at  a  subsequent  time  in  other 
nations  of  the  same  family  of  languages. 

I .  The  form  of  the  verses.  There  are  various  ways  em- 
ployed in  the  poetry  of  the  sister  languages  of  measur- 
ing and  adorning  the  verses.  Thus  rhyme  is  of  exceed- 
ing importance  in  Arabic  poetry,  having  its  fixed  rules* 

*  Wright,  Arabic  Grammar^  2d  edit.,  II.,  pp.  377-81. 


256  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

carefully  elaborated.  But  no  such  rules  can  be  found  in 
Hebrew  poetry.  Rhyme  does  exist,  and  is  used  at  times 
with  great  effect  to  give  force  to  the  variations  in  the 
play  of  the  emotion  by  bringing  the  variations  to  har- 
monious'conclusions;  but  this  seldom  extends  beyond 
a  couplet  or  triplet  of  verses.  So  also  the  Hebrew  poet 
delights  in  the  play  of  words,  using  their  varied  and 
contrasted  meanings,  changing  the  sense  by  a  slight 
change  of  a  letter,  or  contrasting  the  sense  all  the  more 
forcibly  in  the  use  of  words  of  similar  form  and  vocali- 
zation, and  sometimes  of  two  or  three  such  in  the  paral- 
lel verses.  Alliteration  and  assonance  are  also  freely 
employed.  All  this  is  in  order  that  the  form  may  cor- 
respond as  closely  as  possible  to  the  thought  and  emo- 
tion in  their  variations,  as  synonymous,  antithetical,  and 
progressive ;  and  that  the  coloring  of  the  expression  may 
heighten  its  effect.  The  principle  of  rhyme,  however, 
remains  entirely  free.  It  is  not  developed  into  a  system 
and  rules  of  art. 

So  also  the  measurement  of  the  verses,  or  the  princi- 
ple of  metres,  is  thoroughly  developed  in  Arabic  poetry, 
where  they  are  ordinarily  reckoned  as  sixteen  in  number.* 
Repeated  efforts  have  been  made  to  find  a  system  of  me- 
tres in  Hebrew  poetry.  Thus  Josephusf  represents 
Exod.  XV.  and  Deut.  xxxii.  as  written  in  hexameters, 
and  that  the  Psalms  were  written  in  several  metres,  such 
as  trimeters  and  pentameters.  Eusebius  %  says  that 
Deut.  xxxii.  and  Ps.  xviii.  are  in  heroic  metre  of  sixteen 
syllables,  and  that  trimeters  and  other  metres  were  em- 
ployed by  the  Hebrews.  Jerome  §  compares  Hebrew 
poetry  with  that  of  the  Greek  poetry  of  Pindar,  Alcaeus^ 


*  Wright,  Arabic  Grammar,  ad  edit.,  II.,  p.  387. 

+  Antiquities,  ii.  16 ;  iv.  8 ;  vii.  12. 

X  De  Preep.  Evang.,  xL  5.  §  Pre/ace  to  the  look  o/yob. 


HEBREW  POETRY,  257 

and  Sappho,  and  represents  the  book  of  Job  as  composed 
mainly  of  hexameters  with  the  movement  of  dactyls  and 
spondees;  and*"  finds  in  the  Psalter  iambic  trimeters, 
and  tetrameters.  But  these  writers  seem  to  have  been 
misled  by  their  desire  to  assimilate  Hebrew  poetry  to 
the  great  productions  of  the  classic  nations  with  which 
they  were  familiar.  No  such  system  of  metres  can  be 
found  in  connection  with  the  accepted  system  of  Hebrew 
accentuation  and  vocalization.  The  Jews,  who  became 
for  many  centuries  the  sole  custodians  of  the  Hebrew 
text,  did  not  accept  any  such  system,  but  arranged  the 
system  of  poetic  accentuation  simply  for  cantillation  in 
the  synagogues. 

More  recent  attempts  have  been  made  to  explain  and 
measure  Hebrew  verses  after  the  methods  of  the  Arabic 
and  Syriac.  Thus  William  Jones  f  endeavored  to  apply 
the  rules  of  Arabic  metres  to  Hebrew  poetry ;  E.  J. 
Greve,  also,  in  1791  and  18 10;  but  this  involves  the  rev- 
olutionary proceeding  of  doing  away  with  the  Massoretic 
system  entirely,  and  in  its  results  is  far  from  satisfactory. 
The  Arabic  poetry  may  be  profitably  compared  as  to 
spirit,  characteristics,  figures  of  speech,  and  emotional 
language,  as  Wenrich  has  so  well  done,:}:  but  not  as  re- 
gards metres,  for  these,  as  the  best  Arabic  scholars  state, 
are  of  a  comparatively  late  period  when  compared  with 
Hebrew  poetry,  and  were  possibly  preceded  by  an  earlier 
and  freer  poetic  style. 

Saalchutz§  endeavored  to  construct  a  system  of  He- 
brew metres,  retaining  the  Massoretic  vocalization,  but 


*  In  his  Epist.  ad  Paulam. 

t  Com.  Poet.  Asiat.  curav.,  Eichhom,  1777,  p.  61,  se^. 

X  De  Poeseos  Heb.  atque  Arabic,  orig.  indole  mutuoque  consensu  atque  dis- 
crimine,  Lipsiae,  1843. 
§  Von  der  Form  der  Hebraischen  Poesie,  1825. 


258  BIBLICAX  STUDY. 

contending  that  the  accents  do  not  determine  the  ac-. 
cented  syllable,  and  so  pronouncing  the  words  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Aramaic,  and  the  custom  of  Polish  and 
German  Jews,  on  the  penult  instead  of  the  ultimate. 
More  recently,  Bickell''^  strives  to  explain  Hebrew  poetry 
lifter  the  analogy  of  Syriac  poetry.  His  theory  is  that 
Hebrew  poetry  is  essentially  the  same  as  Syriac,  not 
measuring  syllables,  but  counting  them  in  regular  order. 
There  is  a  constant  alternation  of  accented  and  unac- 
cented syllables,  a  continued  rise  and  fall,  so  that  only 
iambic  and  trochaic  feet  are  possible.  The  Massoretic 
accentuation  and  vocalization  are  rejected  and  the  Ara- 
maic put  in  its  place.  The  grammatical  and  rhythmical 
accents  coincide.  The  accent  is,  like  the  Syriac,  general- 
ly on  the  penult.  The  parallelism  of  verses  and  thought 
is  strictly  carried  out. 

Dr.  Bickell,  whose  familiarity  with  Syriac  literature 
and  Hebrew  scholarship  are  well  known,  has,  as  must  be 
admitted,  carried  out  his  theory  with  a  degree  of  mod- 
eration and  thoroughness  which  must  command  admira- 
tion and  respect.  Not  distinguishing  between  long  and 
short  syllables,  and  discarding  the  terminology  of  classic 
metres,  he  gives  us  specimens  of  metres  of  5,  7,  12,  6,  8, 
10  syllables,  and  a  few  of  varying  syllables.  He  has  ap- 
plied his  theory  to  the  whole  of  Hebrew  poetry,t  and 
arranged  the  entire  Psalter,  Proverbs,  Job,  Lamentations, 
Song  of  Songs,  most  of  the  poems  of  the  historical 
books,  and  much  of  the  prophetic  poetry  in  accordance 
with  these  principles.  He  has  also  reproduced  the  effect 
in  a  translation  into  German,  with  the  same  number  of 


*  Metrices  Biblica,  1879 ;  Carmina  Veteris  Testamenti  Metrice,  1882. 

t  Zeitschrift  d.  D.  M.  G.,  1880,  p.  557 ;  Carmina  Veteris  Testamenti  Me- 
trice, 1882. 


HEBREW  POETRY.  259 

syllables  and  strophical  arrangement.*  The  theory  is 
attractive  and  deserves  fuller  consideration  than  can  be 
given  to  it  here ;  yet  it  must  be  rejected  on  the  ground 
that  it  does  away  with  the  difference  between  the  He- 
brew and  the  Aramaic  families  of  the  Shemitic  lan- 
guages ;  and  would  virtually  reduce  the  Hebrew  to  a 
mere  dialect  of  the  Aramaic.  It  overthrows  the  tradi- 
tional accentuation  upon  which  Hebrew  vocalization  and 
the  explanation  of  Hebrew  grammatical  forms  largely 
depend. 

Hebrew  poetry,  as  Ewald  has  shown,  may,  on  the  Mas- 
soretic  system  of  accentuation  and  vocalization,  be  re- 
garded as  generally  composed  of  verses  of  seven  or  eight 
syllables,  with  sometimes  a  few  more  or  a  few  less,  for 
reasons  that  can  be  assigned.f  This  is  especially  true 
of  the  ancient  hymns,:}:  and  those  Psalms  having  certain 
melodies  indicated  in  their  titles ;  yet  even  here  we 
must  regard  Hebrew  poetry  as  at  an  earlier  stage  of 
poetic  development  than  the  Syriac.  The  poet  is 
not  bound  to  a  certain  number  of  syllables.  While  in 
the  main  making  the  length  of  the  verses  correspond 
with  the  parallelism  of  the  thought  and  emotion,  he 
does  not  constrain  himself  to  uniformity  as  a  principle 
or  law  of  his  art ;  but  increases  or  diminishes  the  length 
of  his  verses  in  perfect  freedom  in  accordance  with  the 
rhythmical  movements  of  the  thought  and  emotion  them- 
selves. The  external  form  is  entirely  subordinated  to  the 
internal  emotion,  which  moves  on  with  the  utmost  free- 
dom, and  assumes  a  poetic  form  merely  as  a  thin  veil 
which  does  not  so  much  clothe  and  adorn  as  shade  and 
color  the  native  beauties  of  the  idea.     This  movement 


*  Dicktungen  der  Hebraer.  I.  Geschichtlicheund  Prophetische  Lieder.II.Hiob. 
He  promises  soon  the  Psalter,  the  Solomonic  poetry,  and  Jesus  Sirach. 
+  Dic/iler,  I.,  p.  io8,  scg.  %  Exod.  xv.,  Deut.  xxsii.,  and  Judges  y. 


260  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

of  emotion  gives  rise  to  a  general  harmony  of  expres- 
sion in  the  parallelism  of  structure  in  lines  and  strophes 
-7-  a  parallelism  which  affords  a  great  variety  and, 
beauty  of  forms.  Sometimes  the  movement  is  like  the 
wavelets  of  a  river  flowing  steadily  and  smoothly  on, 
then  like  the  ebbing  and  flowing  of  the  tide  in  majestic 
antitheses,  and  again  like  the  madly-tossed  ocean  in  a 
storm,  all  uniformity  and  symmetry  disappearing  under 
the  passionate  heaving  of  the  deepest  emotions  of  the 
soul. 

The  first  to  clearly  state  and  unfold  the  essential  prin- 
ciple of  Hebrew  verse  was  Bishop  Lowth,*  although 
older  writers,  such  as  Rabbi  Asanas,  and  especially 
Schoettgen,f  called  attention  to  various  forms  of  paral- 
lelism.    Lowth  distinguishes  three  kinds. 

(i)  Synonymous. 

"  O  Jehovah,  in  Thy  strength  the  king  shall  rejoice ; 
And  in  Thy  salvation  how  greatly  shall  he  exult ! 
The  desire  of  his  heart  Thou  hast  granted  unto  him, 
And  the  request  of  his  lips  Thou  hast  not  denied." 

Ps.  xxi.  I,  2. 

(2)  Antithetical. 

"  A  wise  son  rejoiceth  his  father ; 
But  a  foolish  son  is  the  grief  of  his  mother." 

Prov.  X.  I. 

(3)  Synthetic. 

"  Praise  ye  Jehovah,  ye  of  the  earth  ; 
Ye  sea  monsters,  and  all  deeps : 
Fire  and  hail,  snow  and  vapor, 
Stormy  wind,  executing  His  command." 

Ps.  cxlviii.  7,  8. 


*  De  Sacra  Poesi  Hebr.  xix.,  1753 ;  also  Preliminary  Dissertation  to  hts. 
work  on  Isaiah,  177S. 
t  Ilora  Heb.y  Diss,  vi.,  De  Exergasia  Sacra. 


HEBREW  POETRY.  261 

Bishop  Lowth's  views  have  been  generally  accepted, 
although  open  to  various  objections ;  for  the  majority 
of  the  verses  are  synthetic,  and  these  in  such  a  great  va- 
riety that  it  seems  still  more  important  in  many  cases 
to  classify  and  distinguish  them  than  to  make  the  dis- 
criminations proposed  by  Bishop  Lowth.  There  is  a 
general  mingling  of  the  three  kinds  of  parallelism  in 
Hebrew  poetr>%  so  that  seldom  do  the  synonymous 
and  antithetical  extend  beyond  a  couplet,  triplet,  or 
quartette  of  verses.  .  The  poet  is  as  free  in  his  use  of 
the  various  kinds  of  parallelism  as  in  the  use  of  rhyme 
or  metre,  and  is  only  bound  by  the  principle  of  parallel- 
ism itself.  Bishop  Jebb  *  added  a  fourth  kind,  which  he 
called  the  introverted  parallelism,  where  the  first  line 
corresponds  with  the  fourth,  and  the  second  with  the 
third,  thus : 

•   "  My  son,  if  thine  heart  be  wise, 
My  heart  also  shall  rejoice  ; 
Yea,  my  reins  shall  rejoice, 
When  thy  lips  speak  right  things." 

Prov.  xxiii.  15,  16. 

But  this  is  a  difference  in  the  structure  of  the  strophe 
and  of  the  arrangement  of  the  parallelism,  rather  than 
of  the  parallelism  itself,  as  Wright  properly  states.f 

Other  schemes  have  been  proposed,  but  none  have 
been  exhaustive  and  satisfactory,  and  none  have  found 
acceptance  generally  among  scholars.  It  is  sufficient 
for  us  at  present  to  recognize  in  Hebrew  poetry  the  es- 
sential principle  of  parallelism  itself.  This  parallelism 
of  members  was  until  recently  thought  to  be  a  peculiar- 
ity of  Hebrew  poetry,  as  a  determining  principle  of  po- 


*  Sacred  Literature,  §  iv.,  1820. 

+  Art.  Hebrew  Poetry  in  Smith's  Diet,  of  the  Bible. 


262  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

etic  art,  although  it  Is  used  among  other  nations  for  cer- 
tain momentary  effects  in  their  poetry ;  but  recent  dis- 
coveries have  proved  that  the  ancient  Assyrian,  Baby- 
lonian, and  Akkadian  hymns  have  the  same  dominant 
feature  in  their  poetry,  so  that  the  conjecture  of  Schra- 
der,*  that  the  Hebrews  brought  it  with  them  in  their 
emigration  from  the  vicinity  of  Babylon,  is  highly  prob- 
able. Indeed,  it  is  but  natural  that  we  should  go  back 
of  the  more  modern  Syriac  and  Arabic  poetry  to  the 
more  ancient  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  poetry  for  illus- 
trations of  the  poetry  of  the  Hebrews,  which  was  histor- 
ically brought  into  connection  with  the  latter  and  not 
with  the  former.  Taking  these  ancient  Shemitic  poe- 
tries together,  we  observe  that  they  have  unfolded  the 
principle  of  parallelism  into  a  most  elaborate  and  or- 
nate artistic  system,  which  among  other  nations  has 
been  known  and  used,  but  remained  comparatively  un- 
developed, whilst  other  nations  have  developed  the  prin- 
ciples of  rhyme  and  metre  which  have  been  known  and 
used,  but  remain  undeveloped  by  the  Hebrews,  Assyr- 
ians, and  Babylonians. 

2.  In  addition  to  the  principle  of  parallelism,  others  have 
sought  a  principle  of  measurement  of  the  verses  of  Hebrew 
poetry  by  the  accent.  Thus  Lautwein,t  Ernst  Meier,:{:and 
more  recently  Julius  Ley.§  The  latter  has  elaborated 
quite  a  thorough  system,  with  a  large  number  of  examples. 
He  does  not  interfere  with  the  Massoretic  system,  except 
in  the  use  of  the  maqqeph  and  metheg,  and  his  theory  of 
a  circumflex  accentuation  in  m6nosyllables  at  the  end  of 


*  yahrb.f.  Prot.  Theo.,  i.,  122. 

+  Versuch  einer  ricktigcn  Theorie  von  d.  hiblischen  Verskunst,  1775. 
X  Die  Form  der  Hebr.  Poesie,  1853. 

§  Grundzuge  d.  Rkythmus  des  Vers-und  Strophenbaues  in  d.  Hcbr.  PoesiCf 
X87S. 


HEBREW  POETRY.  263 

a  verse ;  but  his  arrangement  of  Hebrew  poetry  into 
hexameters,  octameters,  decameters,  etc.,  depends  largely 
upon  his  views  of  substitution  and  compensation,  which 
are  to  account  for  the  irregularities  of  the  verses ;  and 
upon  the  variety  of  the  breaks  or  caesuras,  as,  for  in- 
stance, in  the  octameter,  which  may  be  composed  of  4 
+  4  tones,  or  2  +  6,  3  +  5,  or  5  +  3.  His  theory  also  re- 
sults in  producing  longer  verses  than  seem  suited  to  the 
principle  of  the  parallelism,  and  the  spirit  of  Hebrew  po- 
etry. At  the  same  .time  it  seems  to  us  evident  that  the 
accent  has  great  power  in  Hebrew  verse.  The  thought 
is  measured  by  the  throbbings  of  the  soul  in  its  emotion, 
and  this  is  naturally  expressed  by  the  beat  of  the  accent. 
The  accent  has  no  unimportant  part  to  play  in  English 
verse,  but  in  Hebfew,  as  the  poetic  accent  always  cor- 
responds with  the  logical  accent,  and  that  is  as  a  rule 
on  the  ultimate,  it  falls  with  peculiar  power.  Even  in 
prose  the  accent  controls  the  vocalization  of  the  entire 
word,  and  in  pause  has  double  strength.  How  much 
more  is  this  the  case  in  poetry,  where  the  emotion  ex- 
pressed by  homogeneous  sounds  causes  it  to  beat  with 
exceeding  power  and  wonderful  delicacy  of  movement. 
This  can  hardly  be  reproduced  or  felt  to  any  great  ex- 
tent by  those  who  approach  the  Hebrew  as  a  dead  lan- 
guage. We  can  only  approximate  to  it  by  frequent 
practice  in  the  utterance  of  its  verses.  The  accent  may 
be  used  as  a  principle  of  measurement  to  a  very  large 
extent  in  Hebrew  poetry,  but  it  is  not  an  absolute  law, 
for  whilst  many  poems  and  strophes  are  uniform  in  this 
respect,  the  poet  breaks  away  from  it  and  increases  or 
diminishes  the  number  of  accents,  as  well  as  words,  to 
correspond  with  the  movements  of  his  thought  and 
emotion. 

Upon  these  two  principles  of  the  parallelism  of  mem- 


264  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

bers  and  the  play  of  the  accent  the  form  of  Hebrew 
verse  depends.  The  ancient  verse  divisions  have  been 
obscured  and  lost,  even  if  they  were  ever  distinctly 
marked.  We  can  recover  them  only  by  entering  into 
the  spirit  of  the  poetry,  and  allowing  ourselves  to  be 
carried  on  in  the  flow  of  emotion,  marking  its  beats  and 
varied  parallelism.  These  features  of  Hebrew  poetry 
make  it  a  "  universal  poetry,"  for  the  parallelism  can  be 
reproduced  in  the  main  in  most  languages  into  which 
Hebrew  poetry  may  be  translated,  and  even  the  same 
number  of  accents  may  be  to  a  great  extent  preserved  ; 
only  that  the  coloring  of  the  words,  and  the  varied 
rhythm  of  their  utterance,  and  the  strong  beating  of  the 
accent,  can  only  be  experienced  by  a  Hebrew  scholar 
in  the  careful  and  practiced  reading  of'the  Hebrew  text. 

III.   THE   PARALLELISM  OF   MEMBERS. 

Having  considered  the  characteristics  of  Hebrew 
poetry  and  the  forms  of  its  verses  in  general,  we  have 
now  to  examine  more  particularly  the  various  kinds  of 
parallelism. 

The  simplest  form  of  the  parallelism  of  Hebrew 
poetry  is  the  distich,  where  two  lines  or  verses  balance 
one  another  in  thought  and  expression,  as  in  the  earliest 
specimen  of  poetry  in  the  Bible  (Gen.  iv.  23,  seq^,  called 
the  sword  song  of  Lemekh : 

"  'Adah  and  Zillah,  hear  my  voice ; 
Wives  of  Lemekh,  oh,  give  ear  to  my  song ; 
Surely  a  man  do  I  slay  for  wounding  me, 
And  a  boy  for  hurting  me. 
If  sevenfold  Cain  be  avenged. 
Then  Lemel<h  seventy  and  seven." 

We  have  here  six  lines  in  three  couplets.     In  the  first 


HEBREW  POETRY.  265 

couplet  the  parallelism  is  completely  synonymous ; 
"wives  of  Lemekh "  being  synonymous  with  " 'Adah 
and  Zillah  ;"  and  "  give  ear  to  my  song  "  with  "  hear  my 
voice ";  that  is  to  say,  the  same  essential  idea  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  two  lines  in  language  which  varies  only 
as  synonymous  terms  and  expressions  vary.  In  the 
second  couplet  the  terms  are  also  synonymous,  except 
in  one  particular,  where  there  is  an  emphatic  progress 
in  the  descent  from  "  man  "  to  "  boy."  In  the  third 
couplet,  whilst  the  thought  is  synonymous,  there  is  yet 
an  emphasis  in  the  changing  of  two  terms,  from  "  Cain  " 
to  "  Lemekh,"  and  from  "  sevenfold  "  to  "  seventy  and 
seven." 

A  beautiful  example,  resembling  the  last  couplet,  is 
given  in  the  chorus  of  the  damsels  in  praise  of  the  vic- 
tories of  David  (i  Sam.  xviii.  7) : 

"  Saul  smote  his  thousands. 
And  David  his  myriads." 

Antithetical  distichs  are  most  numerous  and  varied  in 
the  book  of  Proverbs,  thus  (Prov.  x.  1-5) : 

"  I.  A  wise  son  maketh  glad  his  father  ; 

But  a  foolish  son  is  the  grief  of  his  mother. 
"  2.  Treasures  of  wickedness  profit  not ; 

But  righteousness  delivereth  from  death. 
"  3.  Jehovah  will  not  let  the  desire  of  the  righteous  famish  ; 

But  the  craving  of  the  wicked  He  disappointeth. 
"4.  He  becometh  poor  that  worketh  with  an  idle  hand ; 

But  the  hand  of  the  diligent  maketh  rich. 
"  5.  He  that  gathereth  in  fruit  harvest  is  a  wise  son  ; 

But  he  that  lies  in  deep  sleep  in  grain  harvest  is  a  base  son." 

In  the  second  of  these  couplets  the  antithesis  is  through- 
out :  "  Righteousness "  to  "  treasures  of  wickedness," 
and  "  delivereth  from  death  "  to  "  profit  not."    Usually, 


266  BIBUCAL  STUDY. 

however,  there  are  one  or  more  synonymous  terms  to 
make  the  antithesis  more  emphatic.  In  the  fourth 
couplet  "  hand "  is  a  common  term,  and  the  contrast 
is  of  "idle"  and  "diligent,"  "  becometh  poor"  and 
"  maketh  rich."  In  the  third  couplet  "  Jehovah  "  is  a 
common  term  with  "  He,"  and  "  desire  "  synonymous 
with  "  craving,"  in  order  to  the  antithesis  of  "  righteous  " 
with  "  wicked,"  and  "  will  not  let  famish  "  with  "  disap- 
pointeth."  In  the  first  couplet  "  son "  is  a  common 
term  ;  "  father  "  and  "  mother  "  are  synonymous,  in  or- 
der to  the  antithesis  of  "  wise  "  and  "  foolish,"  "  maketh 
glad  "  and  "  grief."  In  the  fifth  couplet  "  son  "  is  a  com- 
mon term,  *'  fruit  harvest  "  is  synonymous  with  "  grain 
harvest,"  whereas  "  wise  "  has  as  its  antithesis  "  base," 
and  "  gathereth  "  "  lies  in  deep  sleep." 

Sometimes  the  antithesis  is  limited  to  a  single  term, 
as  in  Prov.  xvi.  9  : 

"Man's  heart  deviseth  his  way; 
But  Jehovah  directeth  his  steps." 

Here  the  contrast  is  between  "  man's  heart "  and  "  Jeho- 
vah," the  remaining  terms  are  synonymous. 

The  antithesis  sometimes  becomes  more  striking  in 
the  antithetical  position  of  the  terms  themselves,  as  in 
Prov.  xiii.  24 : 

"  He  that  spareth  his  rod,  hateth  his  son  ; 
But  he  that  loveth  him  seeketh  him  chastisement." 

The  common  terms  are  "father"  and  "son,"  the  anti- 
thetical, "  spareth  his  rod  "  with  "  seeketh  him  chastise- 
ment," and  "  hateth  "  with  "  loveth  ";  but  that  which 
closes  the  first  line  begins  the  second,  and  that  which 
begins  the  first  closes  the  second. 

Parallelism    is   ordinarily   progressive    in   that   great 


HEBREW  POETRY.  267 

variety  of  forms  which  such  a  rich  and  powerful  language 
as  the  Hebrew  renders  possible. 

The  blessing  of  Abram  by  Melchizedek  (Gen.  xiv.  19, 
20)  is  composed  of  two  progressive  distichs  : 

"  Blessed  be  Abram  of  God  Most  High, 
Founder  of  heaven  and  earth  ; 
And  blessed  be  God  Most  High, 
Who  hath  delivered  thy  adversaries  into  thy  hand." 

In  the  first  of  these  couplets  the  second  line  advances 
from  the  idea  of  "  God  Most  High  "  into  that  of  "  Found- 
er of  heaven  and  earth."  In  the  second  couplet,  the 
second  line  advances  from  "  God  Most  High  "  into  "  who 
hath  delivered  thy  adversaries  into  thy  hand." 

The  blessing  of  Rebekah  by  her  brothers  (Gen.  xxiv. 
60)  is  a  progressive  distich  : 

"  O  thou  our  sister,  become  thousands  of  myriads, 
And  may  thy  seed  inherit  the  gate  of  those  that  hate  them." 

The  second  line  sums  up  the  "thousands  of  myriads" 
of  the  first,  in  order  to  give  the  climax  of  the  wish,  in 
the  inheritance  of  the  gate  of  their  enemies. 

The  words  of  Moses  when  the  ark  of  the  covenant  set 
forward  and  when  it  rested  are  couplets  (Num.  x.  35) : 

"Arise,  Jehovah,  and  let  Thine  enemies  be  scattered  ; 
And  let  those  who  hate  Thee  flee  from  before  Thee. 

Return,  Jehovah, 

To  the  myriads  of  thousands  of  Israel." 

The  first  of  these  couplets  is  synonymous  throughout ; 
the  second  is  an  example  of  an  unfinished  line,  the  pause 
in  the  poetical  movement  is  to  give  more  emphasis  to  the 
second  line  when  its  advanced  idea  is  expressed. 

The  tristich  is  developed  from  the  distich  with  the 


263  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

same  variety  of  parallelisms.  The  song  of  Sarah  (Gen. 
xxi.  6,  7)  gives  us  both  a  distich  and  tristich  : 

"  Laughter  hath  God  made  for  me. 
Whosoever  heareth  will  laugh  with  me. 
Who  could  have  said  to  Abraham, 
Sarah  doth  suckle  children, 
For  I  have  borne  a  son  for  his  old  age." 

The  distich  is  synonymous  in  general,  although  there  is 
an  advance  in  thought  by  bringing  in  "  whosoever  hear- 
eth "  to  take  part  in  the  laughter  of  joy.  The  tristich 
is  progressive  in  that  the  second  line  gives  the  object  of 
the  saying  of  the  first,  and  the  third  the  reason  of  it ; 
while  at  the  same  time,  the  term  "  borne  a  son  "  is  synon- 
ymous with  "suckle  children  "  of  the  second  line,  and 
the  term  "  for  his  old  age  "  is  synonymous  with  "  Abra- 
ham "  of  the  first  line. 

The  blessing  of  Noah  (Gen.  ix.  25-27)  is  comprised  of 
two  distichs  and  a  tristich. 

"  Cursed  be  Canaan. 
A  servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  to  his  brethren. 
Blessed  be  Jehovah,  God  of  Shem, 
And  let  Canaan  be  their  servant. 
May  God  spread  out  Japhel, 
And  may  He  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem, 
And  let  Canaan  be  their  servant." 

In  the  first  distich  we  have  another  example  of  an  un- 
finished line,  the  second  progressive  to  it.  In  the  sec- 
ond distich  we  have  'a  simple  progression  in  the  thought. 
In  the  final  tristich  the  progression  runs  on  through  the 
three  lines.  It  is  also  worthy  of  note  that  the  last  line 
Is  in  the  three  examples  of  the  nature  of  a  refrain. 
There  are  two  interesting  specimens  of  the  tristich  in 


HEBREW  POETRY.  oqq 

the  blessing  of  the  sons  of  Joseph  by  Jacob  (Gen.  xlviii. 
1 5-20) : 

"  The  God  before  whom  my  fathers  walked,  Abraham  and  Isaac  ; 
The  God  who  acted  as  my  shepherd  from  the  first  even  to  this  day  ; 
The  Malakh  who  redeemed  me  from  every  evil — bless  the  lads. 
And  let  my  name  be  named  in  them  ; 
And  the  name  of  my  fathers,  Abraham  and  Isaac, 
And  let  them  increase  to  a  great  multitude  in  the  midst  of  the  land." 

The  first  tristich  is  in  its  three  lines  synonymous  so  far 
as  the  first  half  of  the  lines,  but  in  the  second  half  there 
is  a  steady  march  to  the  climax.  The  second  tristich  is 
synonymous  in  its  first  and  second  lines,  where  the  lead- 
ing idea  of  the  name  is  varied  from  Jacob  himself  to 
Abraham  and  Isaac ;  but  the  third  line  is  an  advance  in 
thought. 

The  priest's  blessing  (Num.  vi.  23)  is  also  an  example 
of  a  synonymous  tristich  :  * 

'•  Jehovah  bless  thee  and  keep  thee ; 
Jehovah  let  His  face  shine  upon  thee  and  be  gracious  to  thee ; 
Jehovah  lift  up  His  face  upon  thee  and  g^ve  thee  peace." 

The  tetrastich  is  formed  from  the  distich,  and  consists 
generally  of  pairs  balanced  over  against  one  another, 
but  sometimes  of  three  lines  against  one  ;  rarely  there 
is  a  steady  march  of  thought  to  the  end. 

The  oracle  respecting  Jacob  and  Esau  (Gen.  xxv.  23) 
is  an  example  of  balanced  pairs  : 

"  Two  nations  are  in  thy  womb, 
And  two  peoples  will  separate  themselves  from  thy  bowels  ; 
And  people  will  prevail  over  people. 
And  the  elder  will  serve  the  younger." 

The  pairs  are  synonymous  within  themselves,  but  pro. 
gressive  with  reference  to  one  another. 


270  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

The  blessing  of  Ephraim  by  Jacob  (Gen.  xlviii.  19)  is 
an  example  of  antithetical  pairs : 

"  He  also  will  become  a  people. 
And  he  also  will  grow  great ; 

But  yet  his  younger  brother  will  become  greater  than  he, 
And  his  seed  will  become  abundance  of  nations." 

The  song  of  the  well  (Num.  xxi.  17-18)  is  an  interest- 
ing and  beautiful  example  of  a  more  involved  kind  of 
parallelism,  where  the  second  and  third  lines  constitute  a 
synonymous  pair ;  while  at  the  same  time,  as  a  pair  they 
are  progressive  to  the  first  line,  and  are  followed  by  a 
fourth  line  progressive  to  themselves  : 

"  Spring  up  well !  Sing  to  it  I 
Well  that  princes  have  dug ; 
The  nobles  of  the  people  have  bored. 
With  sceptre,  with  their  staves." 

The  dirge  of  David  over  Abner  (2  Sam.  iii.  33-37) 
presents  a  similar  specimen,  where,  however,  the  first 
and  fourth  lines  are  synonymous  with  one  another,  as 
well  as  the  second  and  third  lines : 

"Was  Abner  to  die  as  a  fool  dieth  ! 
Thy  hands  were  not  bound. 
And  thy  feet  were  not  put  in  fetters  ; 
As  one  falling  before  the  children  of  wickedness,  thou  did'st  fall." 

A  fine  example  of  a  tetrastich,  progressive  throughout, 
is  found  in  the  extract  from  an  ancient  ode  (i  Chron. 
xii.  8),  describing  the  Gadites  who  joined  David's  band : 

"  Heroes  of  valor,  men,  a  host. 
For  battle,  wielders  of  shield  and  spear; 
And  their  faces  were  faces  of  a  lion. 
And  like  roes  upon  the  mountains  for  swiftness." 

The  pentastich  is  usually  a  combination  of  the  distich 


HEBREW  POETRY.  271 

and  tristich.  A  beautiful  specimen  is  given  in  Josh.  x. 
12,  13,  probably  a  strophe  of  an  ode  of  victory  over  the 
Canaanites  at  Bethhoron,  which  has  been  lost : 

"Sun  stand  still  in  Gibeon, 
And  moon  in  the  valley  of  Ajalon ; 
And  the  sun  stood  still, 
And  the  moon  stood. 
Until  the  people  avenged  themselves  on  their  enemies." 

The  first  and  second  lines  are  essentially  synonymous, 
and  so  the  third  and  fourth ;  but  the  second  pair  is  pro- 
gressive to  the  first,  and  the  fifth  line  is  progressive  to 
the  second  pair. 

The  oracle  with  which  Amasai  joined  David's  band 
(i  Chron.  xii.  18)  is  an  example  of  the  same  kind,  save 
that  the  fifth  line  is  progressive  to  the  previous  four 

lines : 

"  Thine  are  we,  David, 
And  with  thee,  son  of  Jesse. 
Peace,  peace  to  thee. 
And  peace  to  thy  helpers ; 
For  thy  God  doth  help  thee." 

The  hexastich  is  a  combination  of  two  tristichs,  or  a 
tetrastich  and  distich,  and  is  often  used  in  poems.  The 
blessmg  of  Jacob  by  Isaac  (Gen.  xxvii.  27  seq^  gives  us 
an  example  of  a  tetrastich  and  hexastich : 

"  See  the  smell  of  my  son  ! 
It  is  like  the  smell  of  a  field  which  Jehovah  hath  blessed. 
And  may  God  give  thee  of  the  dew  of  heaven. 
And  the  fulness  of  earth,  and  abundance  of  com  and  new  wine." 

"  May  peoples  bless  thee. 
And  nations  do  thee  homage ; 
Be  thou  lord  of  thy  brethren. 
And  may  the  sons  of  thy  mother  do  thee  homage. 
Blessed  be  those  who  bless  thee. 
And  cursed  be  those  who  curse  thee." 


272  -  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

The  tetrastich  has  its  first  line  unfinished  ;  its  second 
progressive  thereto ;  the  third  and  fourth  lines  are  also 
progressive.  The  hexastich  is  composed  of  three  coup- 
lets, the  first  and  second  having  their  lines  syn9nymous, 
the  third  couplet  antithetical,  but  the  pairs  are  progres- 
sive with  reference  to  one  another. 

Isaac's  blessing  of  Esau  (Gen.  xxvii.  39,  40)  is  also  a 
hexastich : 

"  Lo  far  from  the  fatness  of  the  earth  will  thy  dwelling-place  be. 
And  far  from  the  dew  of  heaven  above, 
And  by  thy  sword  wilt  thou  live  ; 
And  thy  brother  wilt  thou  serve. 
And  it  will  come  to  pass  when  thou  wilt  rove  about, 
Thou  wilt  break  off  his  yoke  from  upon  thy  neck." 

Longer  groupings  of  lines  are  found  in  poems  of  vari- 
ous kinds  :  the  description  of  the  horse  in  Job  xxxix. 
19-25  has  fourteen  lines,  the  conclusion  of  the  blessing 
of  Moses  (Deut.  xxxiii.)  has  seventeen  lines. 

IV.   THE   STROPHE. 

The  strophe  is  to  the  poem  what  the  lines  or  verses 
are  in  .relation  to  one  another  in  the  system  of  parallel- 
ism. They  are  composed  of  a  greater  or  lesser  number  of 
lines,  sometimes  equal,  and  sometimes  unequal.  Where- 
there  is  a  uniform  flow  of  the  emotion  the  strophes  will 
be  composed  of  the  same  number  of  lines,  and  will  be  as 
regular  in  relation  to  one  another  as  the  lines  of  which 
they  are  composed ;  but  where  the  emotion  is  agitated 
by  passion,  or  broken  by  figures  of  speech,  or  abrupt  in 
transitions,  they  will  be  irregular  and  uneven.  The 
strophes  are  subject  to  the  same  principles  of  parallelism 
as  the  lines  themselves,  and  are  thus  either  synonymous 
to  one  another,  antithetical,  or  progressive,  in  those  sev- 


HEBREW  POETRY,  273 

eral  varieties  of  parallelism  already  mentioned.  A  fa- 
vorite arrangement  is  the  balancing  of  one  strophe  with 
another  on  the  principle  of  the  distich,  then  again  of 
two  with  one  as  a  tristich.  Thus  the  song  (Deut.  xxxii.) 
has  three  parts  of  four  strophes  in  each  part,  arranged 
in  double  pairs  of  strophe  and  antistrophe,  according  to 
the  scheme  of  3  x  2  x  2.  The  song  of  Deborah  (Judges 
V.)  is  composed  of  three  parts,  with  three  strophes  in 
each  part  according  to  the  scheme  of  3  x  3.  These  divis- 
ions are  determined  by  the  principles  of  parallelism,  not 
being  indicated  by  any  signs  or  marks  in  the  Hebrew 
text.  One  of  the  earliest  examples  of  strophes  is  in  the 
ode  (Num.  xxi.  27-30),  composed  of  three  strophes  grad- 
ually diminishing  in  accordance  with  its  dirge-like  char- 
acter, a  favorite  conceit  of  Hebrew  poets ;  thus  of  6.5.4 
lines.  The  ode  is  abrupt  in  style,  rapid  in  transitions, 
full  of  rare  forms  and  expressions,  with  frequent  allitera- 
tions, and  of  real  beauty : 

"  Come  to  Hesbon  ! 

Built,  yea  established  be  the  city  of  Sihon  ; 

For  fire  went  forth  from  Hesbon, 

Flame  from  the  city  of  Sihon. 

It  consumed  Ar  of  Moab, 

The  lords  of  the  high  places  of  Arnon. 

"  Woe  to  thee,  Moab  ! 
Thou  art  lost,  people  of  Chemosh  ! 
He  hath  given,  over  his  sons  unto  flight, 
And  his  daughters  unto  captivity. 
Unto  the  king  of  the  Amorites,  Sihon  ! 

"  Then  we  shot  at  them. — He  was  lost. — 
Hesbon  unto  Dibon. — 
And  we  wasted  them  even  to  Nophah, 
With  fire  unto  Medebah." 

TO* 


274  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

The  oracle  of  Balaam  (Num.  xxiv.  3-9)  is  composed 
of  five  strophes,  according  to  the  scheme ;  5.6.4.54  lines  • 

"  Oracle  of  Balaam,  son  of  Beor ; 

Oracle  of  the  man  whose  eye  was  shut ; 
Oracle  of  one  hearing  the  words  of  God, 
Who  was  gazing  at  the  vision  of  the  Almighty, 
Fallen  down  and  with  eyes  uncovered. 

"  How  excellent  thy  tents,  Jacob  1 
Thy  dwellings,  Israel ! 
Like  streams  spread  out. 
Like  gardens  by  a  river, 
Like  aloes  which  Jehovah  planted. 
Like  cedars  by  the  water. 

"  Water  flows  from  his  buckets, 
And  his  seed  are  on  many  waters, 
That  his  king  may  be  higher  than  Agag, 
And  his  kingdom  exalt  itself. 

"  God  bringelh  him  forth  from  Egypt, 
*  Like  the  swiftness  of  the  yore-ox  hath  he  ;    , 

He  devoureth  nations,  his  adversaries. 
And  their  bones  he  cruncheth. 
And  their  arrows  crusheth. 

"  He  doth  bow  down,  doth  couch  as  a  lion. 
And  as  a  lione'fes  ;  who  would  stir  him  up  ? 
Blessed  be  those  who  bless  thee. 
But  cursed  be  those  who  curse  thee." 

The  last  song  of  David  (2  Sam.  xxiii.  1-7)  is  composed 
of  five  strophes  of  five  lines  each  (the  first  strophe  being 
restored  to  its  original  form  by  ehmination  of  title  and 
editorial  comments) : 

"  Oracle  of  the  man  raised  up  on  high. 
The  spirit  of  Jehovah  speaks  in  me ; 
And  His  word  is  upon  my  tongue,  • 
The  God  of  Israel  doth  say  to  me. 
The  Rock  of  Israel  doth  speak. 


HEBREW  POETRY. 


275 


"  A  ruler  over  men — righteous ; 
A  ruler  in  the  fear  of  God. 

Yea,  he  is  like  the  morning  light  when  the  sun  rises, 
A  morning  without  clouds. 
From  shining,  from  rain,  tender  grass  sprouts  from  the  earth. 

"  Is  not  thus  my  house  with  God  ? 
For  an  everlasting  covenant  hath  He  made  vdth  me, 
Arranged  in  all  things,  and  secured. 
Yea,  all  my  salvation  and  every  delight 
Will  He  not  cause  it  to  sprout  ? 

"  But  the  worthless,  like  thorns  all  of  them  are  thrust  away. 
For  they  cannot  be  taken  with  the  hand. 
The  man  touching  them 

Must  be  armed  with  iron,  and  the  spear's  staff. 
And  with  fire  they  will  be  utterly  consumed." 

Further  illustrations  of  the  strophe  will  be  given  in 
connection  with  the  external  marks  of  division  now  to 
be  considered.  The  simplest  and  most  natural  of  these 
is  the  Refrain.  A  good  example  of  the  Refrain  is  given 
in  Pss.  xlii.  and  xliii.,  which  are  really  one : 

"  As  a  hart  which  crieth  out  after  the  water  brooks. 
So  my  soul  crieth  out  for  Thee,  O  God ! 
My  soul  doth  thirst  for  God,  for  the  God  of  life : 
How  long  ere  I  shall  come  to  appear  before  the  face  of  God  ? 
My  tears  have  been  to  me  food  day  and  night ; 
While  they  say  unto  me  all  day,  '  Where  is  thy  God  ?  ' 
These  things  would  I  remember,  and  would  pour  out  my  soul  with- 
in me : 
How  I  used  to  pass  along  in  the  throng,  used  to  lead  them  up  to 

the  house  of  God. 
With  the  sound  of  rejoicing  and  praise,  a  multitude  keeping  fes- 
tival. 
Why  art  thou  bowed  down,  my  soul  ?  and  why  art  thou  moan- 
ing within  me  ? 
Wait  on  God  :  for  yet  shall  I  praise  Him, 
The  deliverance  of  my  face,  and  my  God. 


276  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

"  Wherefore  would  I  remember  Thee  from  the  land  of  Jordan,  and 
the  Hermons,  from  the  mount  Mizar. 
Deep  unto  deep  is  calling  to  the  sound  of  Thy  cataracts  ; 
All  Thy  breakers  and  Thy  billows  do  pass  over  me : 
By  day  Jehovah  will  appoint  His  mercy. 
And  by  night  His  song  will  be  with  me,  prayer  to  the  God  of  my 

life. 
I  must  say  to  the  God  of  my  rock.  Why  dost  Thou  forget  me  ? 
Why  go  I  mourning  because  of  the  oppression  of  an  enemy  ? 
As  a  breaking  in  my  bones  my  adversaries  do  reproach  me ; 
While  they  say  unto  me  all  day,  '  Where  is  thy  God  ?  ' 

Why  art  thou  bowed  down,  my  soul  ?  and  why  art  thou  moan- 
ing within  me  ? 
Wait  on  God  :  for  yet  shall  I  praise  Him, 
The  deliverance  of  my  face,  and  my  God. 

"  Judge  me,  O  God,  and  plead  my  cause  against  an  unmerciful  na- 
tion ;  , 
Against  a  man  of  deceit  and  wickedness,  deliver  me. 
O  Thou  God,  my  fortress,  why  dost  Thou  cast  me  off? 
Why  must  I  go  about  mourning  because  of  the  oppression  of  an 

enemy  ? 
Send  Thy  light  and  Thy  truth  :  let  them  lead  me ; 
Let  them  bring  me  unto  Thy  holy  mount,  even  to  Thy  dwellings. 
That  I  n^ay  come  to  the  altar  of  God, 
To  the  God  of  the  joy  of  my  rejoicing. 
That  I  may  praise  Thee  with  harp,  O  God,  my  God. 

Why  art  thou  bowed  down,  my  soul  ?  and  why  art  thou  moan- 
ing within  me  .'* 
Wait  on  God  :  for  yet  shall  I  praise  Him, 
The  deliverance  of  my  face,  and  my  God." 

The  strophes  have  each  nine  lines,  the  refrain  three 
lines.  We  are  well  aware  that  other  arrangements  of  the 
lines  are  usual,  and  that  objection  may  be  taken  to  our 
elimination  of  ver.  7  a  ;  but  it  seems  clearly  established 
that  a  copyist's  mistake  has  caused  the  refrain  of  the 
first  strophe  to  be  deprived  of  its  closing  word,  which 
begins  this  verse ;  and  the  other  three  words  are  easiest 


HEBREW  POETKT.  2Y7 

to  explain  as  copyist's  mistakes,  also  repeated  from  the 
refrain. 

Psalm  viii.  is  a  beautiful  example  of  a  hymn  with  a 
refrain,  having  the  peculiarity  that  the  refrain  begins  the 
first  strophe  and  closes  the  second : 

"  Jehovah,  our  Lord, 

How  excellent  is  Thy  name  in  all  the  earth  1 
"  Thou  whose  glory  doth  extend  over  the  heavens. 
Out  of  the  mouth  of  little  children  and  sucklings 
Thou  dost  establish  strength  because  of  Thine  adversaries. 
To  silence  enemy  and  avenger. 
When  I  see  Thy  heavens,  the  work  of  Thy  fingers. 
Moon  and  stars  which  Thou  hast  prepared  ; 
What  is  frail  man,  that  Thou  shouldst  be  mindful  of  him  ? 
Or  the  son  of  man,  that  Thou  visitest  him  ? 

"  When  Thou  didst  make  him  a  little  lower  than  the  angels. 
With  glory  and  honor  crowning  him,  • 

Thou  mad'st  him  to  have  dominion  over  the  works  of  Thy  hands ; 
All  things  Thou  didst  put  under  his  feet : 
Sheep  and  oxen,  all  of  them  ; 
And  also  beasts  of  the  field  ; 
Birds  of  heaven,  and  fishes  of  the  sea  ; 
Those  that  pass  through  the  paths  of  the  seas. 
Jehovah,  our  Lord, 
How  excellent  is  Thy  name  in  all  the  earth  !  " 

But  the  refrain  does  not  always  divide  the  poem  into 
equal  strophes.  Thus  the  dirge  (2  Sam.  i.  19-27)  is 
composed  of  three  parts,  which  melt  away  according  to 
the  scheme  of  18,  5,  i.  The  refrain  itself  does  not  al- 
ways correspond  throughout.  Thus  in  Ps.  Ixxx.  it  in- 
creases itself  for  emphasis  in  the  heaping  up  of  the 
divine  names  in  the  successive  strophes  ;  and  where  the 
two  middle  strophes  constitute  a  double  strophe,  giving 
the  allegory  of  the  vine  with  a  double  refrain  at  the 
close,  massing  together  a  series  of  imperatives.     Ps.  xlv. 


278 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


gives  US  a  varying  refrain  and  three  gradually-increasing 
parts.  The  refrain  is  also  used  for  the  division  of  larger 
pieces  of  poetry,  as  in  the  Song  of  Songs,  where  it  di- 
vides the  poem  into  five  acts  ;  and  in  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
xl.-lxvi.,  which  it  divides  into  three  great  divisions. 

Another  means  of  marking  the  strophes  is  the  alpha- 
bet, whereby  the  line  or  strophe  begins  with  successive 
letters  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet.  This  seems  to  have 
been  designed  as  an  aid  to  the  meuiory,  and  to  mark  the 
advance  step  by  step.  They  constitute,  as  it  were,  lad- 
ders up  which  the  poet  climbs  in  his  prayers,  exhortations, 
and.  praises,  and  down  which  he  climbs  in  his  lamenta- 
tions. Sometimes  the  alphabet  in  its  order  marks  the 
initial  letters  of  the  lines,  as  in  Pss.  xii.  and  cxi. ;  some- 
times of  couplets,  as  in  Pss.  xxv.,  xxxiv.,  cxlv. ;  and  again 
in  strophes  of  four  lines,  as  in  Pss.  ix.,  x.,  and  xxxvii. ;  and 
in  the  long  Ps.  cxix.  in  greater  strophes,  in  which  every 
couplet  begins  with  the  same  letter,  eight  times  repeated 
in  each  strophe.  The  alphabetic  structure  reaches  its 
culmination  in  the  book  of  Lamentations,  which  is  com- 
posed of  five  songs,  four  being  alphabetical.  In  the  first 
and  second  the  strophes  are  of  three  couplets,  in  the 
third  song  also  of  three  couplets ;  but  each  of  these  be- 
gins with  the  letter  proper  to  the  strophe,  so  that  it  is 
repeated  three  times  in  each  strophe.  The  fourth  song 
is  composed  of  alphabetical  strophes  of  two  couplets. 

The  Selah  in  the  Psalter  is  thought  by  some,  notably 
a  recent  scholar,  Julius  Ley,  to  always  mark  the  divis- 
ions of  the  strophe  when  it  occurs ;  but  in  our  judgment 
it  is  rather  a  musical  sign,  and  has  no  relation  to  the 
poetic  structure  whatever. 


HEBREW  POETRY.  279 

V.  THE   MEASUREMENT  BY  WORDS  OR  ACCENTS. 

The  accent  seems  to  measure  the  Hebrew  verses,  so 
that  in  the  main  the  lines  will  have  the  same  number  of 
beats  ;  but  the  delight  of  Hebrew  poetry  in  its  freedom 
prevents  the  carrying  of  the  principle  out  into  the  forms 
of  metrical  laws.  The  three-toned  lines,  which  may,  in 
a  restricted  sense,  be  named  trimeters,  are  favorites  in 
early  poetry  ;  then  come  four-toned  lines  and  five-toned. 
Six-toned  lines  occur,  but  they  are  not  so  frequent. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Maqqeph,  as  placed  at 
present,  has  reference  to  cantillation  in  the  synagogue, 
and  not  the  original  metrical  movement.  Yet  there  is 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  in  the  main  it  corresponds  with 
the  old  metrical  arrangement.  It  must,  however,  be 
rejected  in  some  cases,  and  in  others  inserted,  where 
it  is  not  found  in  the  present  text.  The  power  of 
the  language  to  reduce  the  number  of  accented  words, 
by  joining  two  or  more  together,  must  have  been  of 
great  service  to  the  Hebrew  poet.  As  a  specimen,  we 
give  from  the  first  oracle  of  Balaam  (Num.  xxiii.  7,  seq^ 
the  first  strophe  in  Hebrew  transliterated  : 

Min — 'aram  |  yanhe'ni  |  Bili'q. 
Me'lek^  |  Moa'b  |  mehar're — q6dem. 
L^khah  |  'irdh— li  |  ya'«q6bh 
Ul'khih  I  z6'»mah  |  yishra'el 
Mah— 'eqqob  |  16'— qabboh  |  'el 
Umih — 'ez'om  |  16' — za'am  |  Jahveh. 

To  show  this  as  far  as  possible  to  the  English  reader 
we  translate  : 

"  From  Aram  |  Balaq  |  brings  me, 
The  king  |  of  Moab  |  from  the  mountains  of  the  East.    • 
O  come  I  curse  for  me  |  Jacob 
And  oh  come  |  execrate  |  Israel. 


280  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

How  can  I  denounce  |  what  God  |  doth  not  denounce  ? 
And  how  can  I  execrate  |  what  Jehovah  |  doth  not  execrate  ? 

"  For  from  the  top  |  of  rocks  |  I  see  him, 
And  from  hills  |  I  spy  him. 
Lo  a  people  |  alone  |  will  he  dwell, 
And  among  nations  |  he  will  not  |  be  reckoned. 
Who  hath  counted  |  the  dust  |  of  Jacob  ? 
And  as  to  number  |  the  fourth  |  of  Israel  ? 
Let  me  myself  die  |  the  death  |  of  the  upright, 
And  let  my  last  end  |  be  |  Hke  his." 

The  closing  distich  is  of  the  nature  of  a  refrain.  There 
is  but  one  exception  to  three-toned  lines  ;  the  second 
line  of  the  second  strophe  having  but  two  tones. 

The  second  prophecy  of  Balaam  is  the  same  in  struct- 
ure (Num.  xxiii.  18-24)  :  two  strophes  of  six  lines  each, 
three-toned,  with  a  refrain  in  four  three-toned  lines. 
The  several  prophecies  of  Jacob  (Gen.  xlix.)  are  three- 
toned,  also  the  songs  of  Moses  (Deut.  xxxii.  and  xxxiii.). 
The  ode  (Exod.  xv.)  is  four-toned.  The  refrain  we  give 
in  Hebrew : 

Shiru  I  1"  Jahveh  |  khi— gha'oh  |  gha'ah 
Sus  I  w*  rokh*bh6  |  rimah  |  bayyam. 

We  translate  the  first  strophe  : 

"  My  strength  |  and  song  is  Jah  |  and  He  has  become  |  my  salvation. 
The  same  is  my  God  |  that  I  may  glorify  Him  |  my  Father's  God  | 

that  I  may  exalt  Him. 
Jehovah  is  |  a  warrior,  |  Jehovah  is  |  His  name. 
Chariots  of  Pharaoh  |  and  his  host  |  He  hath  thrown  |  into  the  sea. 
And  the  choicest  |  of  his  charioteers  |  are  drowned  |  in  the  sea  of 

reeds. 
The  depths  |  cover  them  over,  |  they  descend  |  into  the  deep  places 
I  like  a  stone." 

The  last  line  is  lengthened  to  Jive  tones  for  the  climax. 
Psalm  iv.  is  an  evening  prayer  of  David,  composed  of 


HEBREW  POETRY.  281 

five  strophes  In  the  scheme  of  3.4.3.4.3,  and  generally 
four-toned  lines : 

"When  I  call  |  answer  me  |  God  |  of  my  righteousness. 
In  trouble  |  Thou  didst  enlarge  |  for  me, 
Be  gracious  to  me  |  and  hear  |  my  prayer. 

"  Ye  sons  of  man  |  how  long  |  shall  my  glory  |  become  shame  ? 
Will  ye  love  |  vanity  |  will  ye  seek  |  a  lie  ? 
But  know  I  that  Jehovah  |  hath  wonderfully  selected  |  a  pious  man 

for  Himself. 
Jehovah  |  heareth  |  when  I  call  |  unto  Him. 

"  Be  ye  angry  |  but  do  not  |  sin, 
Speak  I  in  your  heart  |  upon  your  bed  |  and  be  still. 
Sacrifice  |  sacrifices  of  righteousness  |  and  trust  |  unto  Jehovah. 

"  Many  |  are  saying  |  who  can  show  us  |  good  ?  ^^ 

Let  wave  upon  them  |  the  light  |  of  thy  face  |  Jehovah.       ^r. 
Thou  hast  given  |  joy  |  in  my  heart. 

More  than  at  the  time  when  |  their  corn  |  and  their  new  wine  | 
increased. 

"  In  peace  |  together  |  I  will  lie  down  |  to  sleep. 
For  Thou  |  Jehovah  |  alone. 
In  confidence  |  causeth  me  to  dwell." 

The  first  psalm  is  an  example  of  two  strophes,  the  one 
of  eight  four-toned  lines,  the  other  of  six  three-toned 
lines : 

"  O  the  blessedness  |  of  the  man  | 

Who  does  not  |  walk  |  in  the  counsel  |  of  the  wicked. 
And  in  the  way  |  of  sinners  |  doth  not  |  stand. 
And  in  the  seat  |  of  scomers  |  doth  not  |  sit ; 
But  on  the  contrary  |  in  the  doctrine  |  of  Jehovah  |  is  his  delight, 
And  in  His  doctrine  |  he  meditateth  |  day  |  and  night : 
And  so  he  is  |  like  a  tree  |  planted  |  by  brooks  of  water. 
Which  yieldeth  |  its  fruit  |  in  its  season, 

And  its  leaf  |  withereth  not  1  and  all  which  he  doeth  |  he  causeth 
to  prosper. 


282                                     BIBLICAL  STUDY. 
"  Not  so  I  the  wicked  | :- 


But  on  the  contrary,  like  the  chaff  [which  the  wind  |  driveth  away. 
Wherefore  the  wicked  |  shall  not  stand  |  in  the  judgment, 
Nor  sinners  |  in  the  congregation  |  of  the  righteous, 
For  Jehovah  knoweth  |  the  way  |  of  the  righteous  ; 
But  the  way  j  of  the  wicked  |  goeth  to  ruin." 

The  nineteenth  psalm  is  an  interesting  example  of 
varied  measurement.  It  is  composed  of  two  parts  :  the 
first  of  two  strophes  of  six  and  eight  four-toned  lines, 
the  last  of  eight  and  six  five-toned  lines.  It  is  only  nec- 
essary to  call  attention  to  these  five-toned  lines  as  really 
composed  of  3  +  2,  with  a  caesura-like  pause.  Thus,  the 
first  strophe  of  the  second  part : 

"  The  doctrine  |  of  Jehovah  |  is  perfect,  [  restoring  f  the  soul ; 
THI^estimony  |  of  Jehovah  |  is  reliable,  U  making  wise  |  the  simple; 
The  statutes  |  of  Jehovah  |  are  upright,  |  rejoicing  |  the  heart ; 
The  command  |  of  Jehovah  |  is  pure,  ||  enlightening  |  the  eyes  ; 
The  fear  |  of  Jehovah  |  is  clear,  |  standing  |  for  ever ; 
The  judgments  |  of  Jehovah  |  are  truth,  |  they  are  righteous  |  altCK 

gether : 
Those  desirable  |  more  than  gold  |  or  than  fine  |  gold ; 
Sweeter  |  than  honey  H  and  the  drippings  |  of  the  comb." 

The  twenty-third  psalm  shows  a  beautiful  progress 
in  the  gradual  lengthening  of  the  lines  in  the  three 
strophes : 

"  Jehovah  is  |  my  shepherd  |  I  cannot  want. 
In  pastures  |  of  green  grass  |  He  causeth  me  to  lie  down  ; 
Unto  waters  |  of  refreshment  |  He  leadeth  me  ; 
Myself  I  He  restoreth  | 

•  He  guideth  me  |  in  paths  |  of  righteousness  |  for  His  name's  sake ; 
Also  I  when  I  walk  |  in  the  val'ey  |  of  deise  darkness, 
I  fear  not  |  evil,  |  for  Thou  art  |  with  me, 
Thy  rod  |  and  Thy  staff  |  they  |  comfort  me. 


HEBREW  POETRY.  283 

"  He  prepareth  |  before  me  |  a  table  |  in  the  presence  |  of  my  adver- 
saries ; 
Has  he  anointed  |  with  oil  |  my  head,  |  my  cup  |  is  abundance ; 
Surely  goodness  |  and  mercy  |  pursue  me  |  all  the  days  |  of  my  life, 
And   I   shall   return  |  to   dwell   in   the   house  |  of   Jehovah  |  for 
length  I  of  days." 

Isaiah  xxvi.  i-6  gives  an  example  of  six-toned  lines: 

"A  city  of  strength  |  have  we,  ]  salvation  |  is  put  |  for  walls  \  and 
rampart. 

Open  I  the  gates  ||  that  a  righteous  nation  [  keeping  |  faithfulness 
I  may  enter. 

One  in  purpose  firm  |  Thou  keepest  (  in  peace ;  |  in  peace,  |  for  in 
Thee  |  he  trusteth. 

Trust  in  Jehovah  |  for  ever,  |  yea,  in  Jah  |  Jehovah  ]  a  rock  ever- 
lasting. 

'Tis  He  doth  bringdown  |  dwellers  |  on  high  |  a  city  |  inaccessible ; 

He  bringeth  it  low,  |  he  bringeth  it  low  |  unto  earth,  [  razeth  it  | 
to  the  dust ; 

The   foot  I  trampleth   it,  ||  feet  |  of  the   afflicted,  [  steps  |  of   the 
weak." 

Examples  might  be  multiplied  indefinitely,  but  we 
have  given  enough  to  illustrate  the  principle. 

VI.   POETIC   LANGUAGE. 

As  in  all  other  languages,  so  in  the  Hebrew  the  poetic 
style  is  elevated,  artistic,  and  cultivated,  and  hence  above 
the  every-day  talk  of  the  houses  and  streets.  For  this 
purpose  it  selects  not  the  language  of  the  schools,  which 
becomes  technical,  pedantic,  and  artificial,  but  the  older 
language,  which,  with  its  simplicity  and  strong  vital 
energy,  is  in  accord  with  the  poetic  spirit. 

Thus  in  the  forms  of  the  language  there  is  (a)  an 
occasional  use  of  the  fuller  sounding  forms,  as  athah  for 
ah,  of  the  fem.  noun ;  {b)  the  older  endings  of  preposi- 
tions in  b'li  for  bal,  minni  for  min,  'alS  for  V/,  'dli  for  'al 


284  BIBLICAL  SlUDY. 

'ddhi  for  *ad ;  (c)  the  older  case  endings  of  nouns  as 
chay'tho  for  chayyath,  and  b^nt  for  ben;  (d)  the  older 
suffix  forms  in  mo  and  hno  for  dm  ;  (e)  the  fuller  forms 
of  the  inseparable  prepositions  /^mo  for  /',  d^mS  for  d^ ; 
(/)  the  fiun  paragogic  or  archaic  ending  of  3  pf.  of 
verbs,  tin  for  d. 

The  style  is  more  primitive,  using  many  archaic  ex- 
pressions that  have  been  lost  to  the  classic  language. 
There  are  in  the  older  books  so-called  Aramaisms.  There 
are,  however,  carefully  to  be  distinguished,  an  earlier 
and  a  later  Aramaism.  The  monuments  of  Assyria  and 
Babylon  show  us  that  the  earlier  Hebrew  language  was 
historically  in  contact  with  the  languages  of  Syria  and 
the  Euphrates,  The  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  shed  great 
light  on  these  poetic  archaisms.  A  later  connection  of 
Hebrew  with  Aramaic  is  indicated  in  the  later  historical 
writings  of  the  Bible,  which  is  of  an  altogether  different 
type.  The  poetic  language  is  also  remarkably  rich  in 
synonyms,  exceedingly  flexible  and  musical  in  structure, 
and  thus  the  older  forms  are  retained  in  these  synonyms 
for  variety  of  representation,  when  they  have  long 
"passed  from  use  in  the  prose  literature. 

VII.   THE    KINDS    OF   HEBREW   POETRY. 

Hebrew  poetry  may  be  divided  into  three  general 
classes.  Lyric,  Gnomic,  and  Composite.  (i)  Lyric 
poetry  is  the  earliest  development  of  literature.  We 
find  it  scattered  through  the  various  historical  and  pro- 
phetical books,  and  also  in  the  great  collection  of  Hebrew 
lyric  poetry,  the  Psalter.  The  three  pieces  ascribed  to 
Moses,  Ex.  XV.,  Psalm  xc,  and  Deut.  xxxii.,  subdivide 
lyric  poetry  into  the  hymn,  the  prayer,  and  the  song. 
The  hymn  is  found  in  rich  variety — the  evening  hymn, 
the  morning  hymn,  the  hymn  in  a  storm,  hymns  of  vie- 


HEBREW  POETRY.  285 

tory  or  odes,  as  that  of  the  victory  over  the  Egyptians, 
Ex.  XV, ;  over  the  Moabites,  Num.  xxi. ;  the  ode  of  the 
battle  of  Beth  Horon,  Josh.  x. ;  the  song  of  Deborah, 
Judges  v.;  the  thanksgiving  as  in  the  song  of  Hannah, 
and  many  pieces  of  Isaiah ;  the  grand  oratorio,  Ps. 
xcii.-c,  and  the  most  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  books  of 
the  Psalter,  containing  the  greater  and  lesser  hallels,  the 
hallelujah  psalms  and  doxologies.  The  prayers  are 
in  rich  variety — evening  and  morning  prayers,  a  litany 
before  a  battle,  prayers  for  special  and  national  deliver- 
ance ;  psalms  of  lamentation,  penitence,  religious  medi- 
tation, of  faith,  and  assurance — in  all  the  rich  variety  of 
devotion.  These  are  most  numerous  in  the  psalms 
ascribed  to  David,  and  may  be  regarded  as  especially 
the  Davidic  type,  although  the  xc.  psalm  ascribed  to 
Moses  and  Hab.  iii.  are  among  the  most  wonderful 
specimens,  as  the  one  traverses  the  past  and  compares 
the  frailness  of  man  with  the  everlasting  God,  and  the 
other  marches  into  the  future  and  bows  with  trembling 
in  the  presence  of  the  most  sublime  Theophany.  A 
special  form  of  this  class  is  the  dirge,  as  the  laments  of 
David  over  Jonathan  and  Abner,  and  in  the  exceed- 
ingly elaborate  and  artistic  book  of  Lamentations,  and 
not  infrequently  in  the  propTiets.  The  songs  are  abun- 
dant, and  in  every  variety :  the  sword  song  of  Lamech, 
the  birth  song  of  Sarah,  the  blessings  of  the  patriarchs 
Noah,  Abraham,  Isaac,  the  priest  Aaron,  and  the  swan 
song  of  David.  In  the  Psalter  we  have  songs  of  exhor- 
tation, warning,  encouragement,  historical  recollections, 
prophetic  anticipations,  and  the  love  song.  The  psalms 
of  Asaph  are  chiefly  of  this  class. 

(2)  Gnomic  poetry  has  but  few  specimens  in  the  his- 
torical books.  We  have  a  riddle  of  the  ancient  hero 
Samson : 


286  BIBLICAL  STUDr. 

"  From  the  eater  |  came  forth  |  food, 
And  from  the  strong  |  came  forth  |  sweetness  "; 

followed  by  a  satire : 

"  If  you  I  had  not  ploughed  |  with  my  heifer. 
You  would  not  |  have  found  out  |  my  riddle." 

Judges  xiv.  14-18. 

Another  witty  saying  of  this  hero  is  preserved : 

"  With  the  jaw-bone  |  of  an  ass  |  a  heap  |  two  heaps  ; 
With  the  jaw-bone  |  of  an  ass  |  have  I  smitten  |  a  thousand  men.' 

Judges  xv.  16. 

The  Hebrews  were  fond  of  this  species  of  poetry,  but 
we  could  hardly  expect  to  find  much  of  it  in  the  Bible.* 
Its  religious  and  ethical  forms  are  preserved  in  a  rich 
collection  in  the  Proverbs,  consisting  of  fables,  parables, 
proverbs,  riddles,  moral  and  political  maxims,  satires, 
philosophical  and  speculative  sentences.  There,  are  uf>- 
wards  of  five  hundred  distinct  couplets,  synonymous, 
antithetical,  parabolical,  comparative,  emblematical,  be- 
sides fifty  larger  pieces  of  three,  four,  five,  six,  seven,  and 
eight  lines,  with  a  few  poems,  such  as  the  temperance 
poem  (xxiii.  29-35),  the  pastoral  (xxvii.  22-27),  the 
pieces  ascribed  to  the  poets  Aluqah,  Agur,  and  Lemuel, 
the  alphabetical  praise  of  the  talented  wife  (xxxi.  10-31), 
and  the  great  admonition  of  Wisdom  in  fifteen  advanc- 
ing discourses  (i.-ix.). 

A  few  specimens  of  this  kind  of  poetry  will  suffice  to 
illustrate  it. 

There  are  several  riddles  ascribed  to  Aluqah  in  Prov. 

XXX. :  (i)  The  riddle  of  the  insatiable  things,  xxx.  15- 

16: 

"  Two  daughters  |  (cry)  :  give  !  |  give  ! 
Three  |  are  they  |  which  cannot  be  satisfied ; 
Four  I  say  not  |  enough." 

*  See  Wunsche,  EHe  Rathselweisheit  bet  d.  Nebracrn,  Leipzig,  1883. 


HEBREW  POETRY.  287 

The  answer : 

•  Sheol,  I  and  a  barren  |  womb  ; 
Land  |  cannot  be  satisfied  |  with  water ; 
And  fire  |  says  not  |  enough." 

(2)  The  riddle  of  the  little  wise  people,  xxx.  24-28 : 

"  Four  I  are  ]  little  ones  of  earth  ; 
But  they  |  are  wise  |  exceedingly." 

The  answer : 

"  The  ants  |  are  a  people  |  not  strong. 
But  they  prepare  |  in  summer  |  their  food  ; 
Conies  |  are  a  people  |  not  mighty. 
But  they  make  |  in  the  rock  |  their  home  ; 
A  king  I  the  locusts  j  have  not, 
But  they  march  forth  |  in  bands  |  — all  of  them  ; 
The  spider  (  with  the  hands  |  thou  mayest  catch. 
But  she  I  dwells  in  the  palaces  |  of  kings." 

A  beautiful  temperance  piece  is  found  in  xxiii.  29-35, 
composed  of  ten  lines  of  five  tones  each  : 

"  Who  hath  woe  ?  |  who  hath  wretchedness  ?  B  who  hath  |  stripes  ? 
I  who  hath  murmuring? 
Who  hath  wounds  |  without  cause  ?  j  who  hath  |  dark  flashing  | 

eyes  ? 
Those  tarrying  long  |  at  the  wine  J :  those  going  j  to  seek  j  spiced 

wine. 
Look  I  not  I  on  wine  |  when  it  |  sparkleth  red  ; 
When  it  giveth  ]  in  the  cup  |  its  glance  |  ;  floweth  |  smoothly : 
Its  end  is  |  that  as  a  serpent  |  it  biteth,  j  and  like  an  adder  [  it 

stingeth. 
Thine  eyes  |  will  see  j  strange  things,  J  and  thine  heart  utter  1 

perverse  things ; 
So  that  thou  wilt  become  |  like  one  Ijning  down  |  in  the  heart  ol 

the  sea  J  ;  and  like  one  lying  down  |  on  the  top  of  a  mast. 
They  have  smitten  me  |  (thou  wilt  say),  but  I  am  not  |  hurt  ] : 

they  have  wounded  me,  |  I  feel  it  not : 
How  long  I  ere  I  shall  arise  |  that  I  may  seek  it  |  yet  |  again  ?  " 


288  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Another  choice  piece  is  the  representation  of  the  slug- 
gard, xxiv.  30-34,  eleven  lines  of  three  tones  each  : 

•*  By  the  field  |  of  a  slothful  man  |  I  passed, 
And  by  the  vineyard  |  of  a  man  |  without  understandinff 
And  lo,  its  wall  |  was  grown  up  |  with  thorns, 
Its  face  I  covered  over  |  with  nettles, 
And  its  wall  |  of  stones  |  was  broken  down  ; 
So  that  I  gazed  |  to  give  it  |  attention  ; 
I  saw  I  — I  received  |  instruction. 
A  Httle  sleep,  |  a  little  |  of  slumber 
A  little  folding  |  of  the  hands  |  to  lie  down  ; 
And  thy  poverty  ]  comes  |  walking  on. 
And  thy  want  |  as  a  man  |  armed  with  a  shield." 

(3)  Composite  poetry  starts  in  part  from  a  lyric  base 
as  in  prophecy,  beginning  with  the  blessings  of  Jacob 
and  Moses,  and  the  poems  of  Balaam,  and  in  lesser  and 
greater  pieces  in  the  prophetical  writings,  the  Song  of 
Songs,  and  Lamentations  ;  in  part  from  a  gnomic  base 
as  in  the  book  of  Job,  and  Ecclesiastes. 

We  shall  present  a  few  specimens. 

The  first  Act  of  the  Song  of  Songs  will  give  an  illus- 
tration of  the  use  of  the  dramatic  element : 

Scene  I. 

Solo.     Let  him  kiss  me  with  some  kisses  of  his  mouth, 

For  thy  caresses  are  better  than  wine  ; 

For  scent  thine  ointments  are  excellent ; 

O  thou  sweet  ointment,  poured  forth  as  to  thy  name  ! 

Therefore  the  virgins  love  thee. 
Solo.    Oh  !  Draw  me  ! 

Chorus.  After  thee  we  will  run  ! 

Solo.     O  that  the  king  had  brought  me  to  his  apartment  I 
Chorus.    We  will  rejoice  and  we  will  be  glad  with  thee, 
We  will  celebrate  thy  caresses  more  than  wine. 
Rightly  they  love  thee. 

Scene  II; 
Shtilamite.     Dark  am  I — 
Chorus.  — but  lovely — 


HEBREW  POETRY.  289 

Shulamite.    — daughters  of  Jerusalem,  as  the  tents  of  Kedar. 

Chorus.    — as  the  curtains  of  Solomon. 

Sh.    Gaze  not  upon  me  because  I  am  swarthy, 

Because  the  sun  scanned  me  : 

My  mother's  sons  were  angary  with  me. 

They  set  me  as  keeper  of  the  vineyards ; 

My  vineyard,  which  is  my  own,  have  I  not  kept. 

O  tell  me,  thou  whom  my  soul  loveth  : 

Where  feedest  thou  thy  flock  ? 

Where  dost  thou  let  them  couch  at  noon  ? 

Why  should  I  be,  as  one  straying 

After  the  flocks  of  thy  companions? 
Ck.     If  thou  knowest  not  of  thyself,  thou  fairest  among  women. 

Go  forth  for  thyself  at  the  heels  of  the  flock. 

And  feed  thy  kids  at  the  tabernacles  of  the  shepherds. 

Scene  III. 

Solomon.     To  my  mare  in  the  choice  chariot  of  Pharaoh  I  liken  thee 
my  friend, 
Lovely  are  thy  cheeks  in  rows  (of  coin),  thy  neck  in  thy  neck- 
lace ! 
Rows  of  gold  we  will  make  thee,  with  chains  of  silver. 
Sk.    While  the  king  was  in  his  divan  my  nard  gave  its  scent. 

A  bundle  of  myrrh,  is  my  beloved  to  me,  that  lodgeth  between 

my  breasts ; 
A  cluster  of  henna,  is  my  beloved  to  me,  in  the  vineyards  of 
En  Geddi. 
Sol.     Lo  thou  art  lovely,  my  friend, 

Lo  thine  eyes  are  doves. 
Sh.    Lo  thou  art  lovely,  my  beloved. 

Yea  sweet,  yea  our  arbour  is  green. 
Sol.    The  timbers  of  our  houses  are  cedar. 

Our  wainscoting  cypress. 
Sh.     I  am  the  flower  of  Sharon, 

The  anemone  of  the  valleys. 
Sol.     As  the  anemone  among  the  thorns. 

So  is  my  friend  among  the  daughters. 
Sh.    As  the  apricot  among  the  trees  of  the  wood. 
So  is  my  beloved  among  the  sons. 
In  its  shadow  I  delighted  to  sit, 
13 


g<)()  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

And  its  fruit  was  sweet  to  my  taste. 

0  that  he  had  brought  me  to  the  vineyard. 
His  banner  over  me  being  love — 

Sustain  me  with  raisin-cakes,  support  me  with  apricots; 

For  I  am  love  sick 

His  left  hand  would  be  under  my  head. 
His  right  hand  would  embrace  me. 

1  adjure  you,  daughters  of  Jerusalem,  by  the  gazelles. 
Or  by  the  hinds  of  the  field  that  ye  arouse  not. 

And  that  ye  stir  not  up  love  till  it  please. 

The  finest  piece  of  ethics  in  the  Old  Testament  is 
found  in  Job  xxxi.  : 

"  (l)  A  covenant  have  I  concluded  with  my  eyes  ; 
How  then  should  I  consider  a  maiden  ? 
Else  what  portion  of  Eloah  from  abov£. 
Or  inheritance  of  Shadday  from  on  high  ? 
Is  there  not  destruction  for  the  evil  doer ; 
And  calamity  for  the  worker  of  iniquity  ? 
Is  He  not  seeing  my  ways  ; 
And  all  my  steps  counting  ? 

"  (2)  If  I  have  walked  with  falsehood. 

And  my  foot  has  made  haste  unto  deceit ; 
Let  Him  weigh  me  in  righteous  balances. 
That  Eloah  may  know  my  integrity  ! 
If  my  step  used  to  incline   rom  the  way. 
And  after  my  eyes  my  heart  did  walk. 
And  to  my  palms  a  spot  did  cleave. 
Let  me  sow  and  let  another  eat, 
And  as  for  my  crops,  let  them  be  rooted  out. 

"  (3)  If  my  heart  hath  been  seduced  unto  a  woman. 
And  at  the  door  of  my  neighbour  I  have  lurked. 
Let  my  wife  grind  the  mill  for  another,    . 
And  over  her  let  others  bend  ; 
For  that  were  infamy  ; 
And  that  were  an  iniquity  for  the  judges  ; 
For  it  is  a  fire  that  devoureth  unto  Abaddon, 
And  in  all  my  increase  it  rooteth  up. 


HEBREW  POETRY.  291 

"  (4)  If  I  used  to  refuse  the  right  of  my  slave. 

Or  my  maid  servant,  when  they  plead  with  me  ; 

What  could  I  do  when  God  should  rise  up, 

And  when  He  would  investigate,  what  ciuld  I  respond  to 

Him  ? 

Did  not,  in  the  womb,  my  maker  make  him. 
And  one  being  form  us  in  the  belly? 

"  (5)  If  I  used  to  keep  back  the  weak  from  his  desire. 
And  caused  the  eye  of  the  widow  to  fail. 
And  ate  my  portion  alone. 

And  the  orphan  did  not  eat  of  it : 

Nay— from  my  youth  did  he  grow  up  unto  me  as  a  father; 
And  from  the  womb  of  my  mother  I  was  accustomed  to  giiide 
her. 

"  (6)  If  I  could  see  a  man  ready  to  perish  without  clothing 

And  the  poor  having  no  covering . 

Surely  his  loins  blessed  me. 

And  from  the  fleece  of  my  sheep  he  warmed  himself. 

If  I  lifted  up  my  hand  over  the  orphan. 

When  I  saw  my  help  in  the  gate 

My  shoulder— let  it  fall  from  its  blade. 
And  my  arm— let  it  be  broken  from  its  bone ! 
For  there  was  fear  unto  me  of  calamity  from  God, 
•And  because  of  His  majesty  I  could  not. 

"  (7)  If  I  have  made  gold  my  confidence. 

And  unto  fine  gold  said,  thou  art  my  tnlst  ; 
If  I  used  to  rejoice  that  my  wealth  was  great. 
And  that  my  hand  had  found  vast  resources ;     " 
If  I  used  to  see  the  light  that  it  was  shining  brightly. 
And  the  moon  moving  in  splendour. 
So  that  my  heart  was  enticed  in  secret. 

And  my  hand  kissed  my  mouth : 

This  also  were  an  iniquity  forjudges. 
For  I  had  denied  El  on  high. 

"  (8)  If  I  was  accustomed  to  rejoice  in  the  calamity  of  the  one  hat- 
ing  me, 

Or  was  excited  with  joy  when  evil  overtook  him  ; . 


292  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Nay !  I  did  not  give  my  palate  to  sinning, 

In  asking  with  a  curse  his  life. 

Verily  the  men  of  my  tent  say : 

Who  can  shew  us  one  not  filled  with  his  meat  ? 

Without  the  stranger  used  not  to  lodge, 

My  doors  to  the  caravan  I  used  to  open. 

"  (9)  If  against  me  my  land  crieth. 
And  together  its  furrows  weep  ; 
If  its  strength  I  have  eaten  without  silver. 
And  the  life  of  its  lord  I  have  caused  to  expire ; 
Instead  of  wheat  let  thorns  come  forth, 
And  evil  weeds  instead  of  barley. 

"  (10)  If  I  have  covered  as  man  my  transgression. 
Hiding  in  my  bosom  my  iniquity  ; 
Because  I  feared  the  great  multitude. 
And  the  contempt  of  the  clans  made  me  afraid  ; 
And  so  was  silent,  would  not  go  out  to  the  gate  : — 
O  that  I  had  one  to  hear  me — 
Behold  my  mark  ! — Let  Shadday  answer  me  I  -  - 

0  that  I  had  the  bill  (of  accusation)  my  adversary  has  written ! 
Surely  I  would  lift  it  up  on  my  shoulder,  , 

1  would  bind  it  as  a  crown  of  glory  upon  me. 
The  number  of  my  steps  would  I  declare  to  him. 
As  a  prince  I  would  approach  him." 

We  shall  finally  present  a  specimen  of  Prophetic  Poe- 
try, and  indeed  the  most  sublime  piece  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, as  well  as  one  of  the  most  artistic  (Is.  Hi.  13- 
liii.),  consisting  of  five  gradually  increasing  strophes  : 

"  (i)  Behold  my  servant  shall  prosper, 

He  shall  be  lifted  up  and  be  exalted  and  be  very  high. 

According  as  many  were  astonished  at  thee — 

So  disfigured  more  than  a  man  was  his  appearance. 

And  his  form  than  the  sons  of  men  ;  — 

So  shall  he  startle  many  nations  ; 

Because  of  him  kings  will  stop  their  mouths  ; 

For  what  had  not  been  told  them  they  shall  see. 

And  what  they  had  not  heard  they  shall  attentively  consider. 


HEBREW  POETRY.  293 

"  (2)  Who  believed  our  message. 

And  the  arm  of  Jehovah,  unto  whom  was  it  revealed  ? 

When  he  grew  up  as  a  suckling  plant  before  us, 

And  as  a  root  out  of  a  dry  ground  ; 

He  had  no  form  and  no  majesty  that  we  should  see  him, 

And  no  appearance  that  we  should  take  pleasure  in  him ; 

Despised  and  forsaken  of  men  ! 

A  man  of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief! 

And  as  one  before  whom  there  is  a  hiding  of  the  face  ! 

Despised,  and  we  regarded  him  not ! 

"  (3)  Verily  our  griefs  he  bore 

And  our  sorrows — he  carried  them. 

But  we  regarded  him  as  stricken, 

Smitten  of  God,  and  humbled. 

But  he  was  one  pierced  because  of  our  transgressions, 

Crushed  because  of  our  iniquities  ; 

The  chastisement  for  our  peace  was  upon  him  ; 

And  by  his  stripes  there  is  healing  for  us. 

We  all  like  sheep  strayed  away  ; 

Each  one  turned  to  his  own  way. 

Whila  Jehovah  caused  to  light  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all. 

'  (4)  He  was  harassed  while  he  was  humbling  himself, 
-  And  he  opens  not  his  mouth  ; 
Like  a  sheep  that  is  being  led  to  the  slaughter 
And  as  an  ewe  that  before  her  shearers  is  dumb ; — 
And  he  opens  not  his  mouth. 

From  oppression  and  from  judgment  he  was  taken  away. 
And  among  his  cotemporaries  who  was  considering. 
That  he  was  cut  off  from  the  land  of  the  living. 
Because  of  the  transgression  of  my  people,  one  smitten  for 

them  ? 
With  the  wicked  his  grave  was  assigned. 
But  he  was  with  the  rich  in  his  martyr  death ; 
Because  that  he  had  done  no  violence. 
And  there  was  no  deceit  in  his  mouth. 

"  (5)  But  yehpvah  was  pleased  to  crush  him  with  grief! 
When  he  himself  offers  a  trespass  offering, 


294  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

He  shall  see  a  seed,  he  shall  prolong'  days ; 

And  the  pleasure  of  Jehovah  will  prosper  in  his  hands: 

On  account  of  his  own  travail  he  shall  see ; 

He  shall  be  satisfied  with  his  knowledge  ; 

My  righteous  servant  shall  justify  many. 

And  iheir  iniquities  he  shall  carry. 

Therefore  will  I  give  him  a  portion  consisting  of  the  many  ; 

And  with  the  strong  shall  he  divide  spoil. 

Because  that  he  exposed  himself  to  death. 

And  he  was  numbered  with  transgressors. 

And  he  did  bear  the  sin  of  many  ; 

And  for  transgressors  was  suffering  infliction." 

In  such  pieces  as  these  we  find  the  climax  of  He- 
brew poetic  art,  where  the  dramatic  and  heroic  ele- 
ments combine  to  produce  in  a  larger  whole  ethical 
and  religious  results  with  wonderful  power.  While 
these  do  not  present  ys  epic  or  dramatic  or  pastoral 
poems  in  the  classic  sense,  they  yet  use  the  epic,  dra- 
matic, and  pastoral  elements  in  perfect  freedom,  com- 
bining them  in  a  simple  and  comprehensive  manner 
for  the  highest  and  grandest  purposes  of  the  prophet 
and  sage  inspired  of  God,  giving  us  productions  of  po- 
etic art  that  are  unique  in  the  world's  literature.  The 
dramatic,  epic,  and  pastoral  elements  are  means  used 
freely  and  fully,  but  not  ends.  These  forms  of  beauty 
and  grace  are  simply  forms  which  do  not  retard  the  im- 
agination in  admiration  of  themselves,  but  direct  it  to 
the  grandest  themes  and  images  of  piety  and  devotion. 
The  wise  men  of  Israel  present  us  in  the  ideals  of  the 
Shulamite,  Job,  and  Koheleth,  types  of  noble  character, 
moral  heroism,  and  purity,  that  transcend  the  heroic 
types  of  the  Iliad  or  ^Eneid,  wrestling  as  they  do  with 
foes  to  their  souls  far  more  terrible  than  the  spears  and 
javelins  and  warring  gods  of  Greek  or  Trojan,  advanc- 
ing step  by  step,  through  scene  after  scene  and  act  after 


HEBREW  POETRY.  295 

act  to  holy  victory  in  the  fear  of  God ;  victories  that 
will  serve  for  the  support  and  comfort  of  the  human 
race  in  all  time,  which  has  ever  to  meet  the  same  incon- 
sistencies of  evil,  the  same  assaults  on  virtue,  the  same 
struggle  with  doubt  and  error,  therein  so  vividly  and 
faithfully  portrayed  to  us.  The  prophets  of  Israel  play 
upon  the  great  heart  of  the  Hebrew  people  as  upon  a 
thousand-stringed  lyre,  striking  the  tones  with  divinely- 
guided  touch,  so  that  from  the  dirge  of  rapidly  succeed- 
ing disaster  and  ruin,  they  rise  through  penitence  and 
petition  to  faith,  assurance,  exultation,  and  hallelujah, 
laying  hold  of  the  deep  thoughts  and  everlasting  faith- 
fulness of  God,  binding  the  past  and  present  as  by  a 
chain  of  light  to  the  impending  Messianic  future ;  seeing 
and  rejoicing  in  the  glory  of  God,  which,  though  now 
for  a  season  shrouded  behind  the  clouds  of  disaster,  is 
soon  to  burst  forth  in  a  unique  day.* 


*  Zecb.  xiv.  6  seq. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE. 

The  word  of  God  came  to  man  at  first  orally,  in  con- 
nection with  theophanies.  These  theophanies  are  divine 
manifestations  in  forms  of  time  and  space.  From  them, 
as  centres,  went  forth  the  supernatural  influences  in  word 
of  revelation  and  deed  of  miracle.  These  theophanies 
attained  their  culmination  in  Jesus  Christ,/the  incarnate 
God,  the  risen,  ascended,  and  glorified  Savioun;  and 
the  divine  word  reached  its  completion  in  His  Gos- 
pel. The  word  of  God,  issuing  from  these  theophanic 
centres,  was  appropriated  more  and  more  by  holy  men, 
upon  whom  the  divine  Spirit  came,  taking  possession 
of  them,  influencing  and  directing  them  in  the  exercise 
of  prophetic  ministry.  An  important  part  of  this  min- 
istry was  the  oral  delivery  of  the  divine  word  to  the 
people  of  God  in  ascending  stages  of  revelation.  This 
word  was  gradually  committed  to  writing,  and  assumed 
the  literary  forms  that  are  presented  to  us  in  the  canon 
of  Scripture. 

"  It  pleased  the  Lord,  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners,  to 
reveal  Himself,  and  to  declare  that  His  virill  unto  His  Church,  and 
afterward  for  the  better  preserving  and  propagating  of  the  truth,  and 
for  the  more  sure  establishment  and  comfort  of  the  Church  against 
the  corruption  of  the  flesh,  and  the  malice  of  Satan  and  of  the  world ; 
to  commit  the  same  wholly  unto  writing ;  which  maketh  the  Holy 
(296) 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  297 

Scripture  to  be  most  necessary ;  these  former  ways  of  God's  reveal- 
ing His  will  unto  His  people  being  now  ceased."  (  Westminster 
Confession,  I.  i). 

The  word  of  God,  as  written,  is  to  be  appropriated 
by  man  through  reading  it,  meditating  upon  it,  and 
putting  it  in  practice. 

Reading  is  an  appropriation  through  the  eye  and  ear 
and  sense  perception,  of  letters,  words,  and  sentences  as 
signs  of  thought.  Meditation  is  the  use  of  the  faculties 
of  the  mind  in  the  apprehension  of  the  substance  of 
thought  and  emotion  contained  in  these  signs,  the  asso- 
ciation of  it  with  other  things,  and  the  application  of  it 
to  other  conditions  and  circumstances.  This  appropria- 
tion must  be  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the  appre- 
hending human  soul,  with  the  principles  of  the  compo- 
sition of  written  documents,  and  also  with  the  nature 
of  the  things  contained  in  and  expressed  by  the  sensible 
signs.  Biblical  interpretation  is  a  section  of  general  in- 
terpretation, and  it  difTers  from  other  special  branches 
in  accordance  with  the  internal  character  of  the  contents 
of  the  Bible.  Interpretation  is  usually  regarded  as  a  sec- 
tion of  applied  logic*  Schleiermacher  defines  it  as  the 
art  of  correctly  understanding  an  author.f  Klausen,:}: 
as  "  the  scientific  establishment  and  development  of  the 
fundamental  principles  and  rules  for  the  understanding 
of  a  given  discourse."  We  are  constrained  to  think  that 
this  is  too  narrow  a  definition.  We  agree  with  most  in- 
terpreters in  the  opinion  that  it  embraces  not  only  the 
art  of  understanding  an  author,  but  also  the  art  of  ex- 


*  See  Carpzov,  Frimae  Lineae  Herm.,  Helmstadii,  1790,  p.  5  ;  SirWm.  Ham- 
ilton, Logic^  p.  474  ;  KJausen,  Hermeneutik  des  Neuen  Testaments,  Leipzig, 
J841,  p.  7. 

t  Hermeneutik  und  Kritik,  Berlin,  1838,  p.  3. 

%  In  /.  c,  p.  I. 


298  BIBLICAL  STUDY, 

position  or  explanation  of  an  author  to  others.*  We  are 
also  compelled  to  go  still  further  and  include  as  a  part 
of  interpretation,  the  practical  application  of  the  sub- 
stance of  the  writing  to  other  appropriate  conditions 
and  circumstances.  The  older  interpreters,  especially 
among  the  Puritans,  regarded  this  latter  as  the  chief 
feature.  The  interpreter  needs  according  to  the  older 
writers,  oratio,  meditatio,  et  tentatio.  This  tentatio,  trial, 
experience,  is  the  most  important  of  all.  This  was  urged 
by  Jesus  :  "  If  any  man  willeth  to  do  His  will  he  shall 
know  of  the  teaching,  whether  it  be  of  God,  or  whether 
I  speak  from  myself"  (John  vii.  17).  Bernard  says: 
"  He  rightly  reads  Scripture  who  turns  words  into 
deeds."  Francis  Roberts  says:  "The  mightiest  man 
in  practice,  will  in  the  end  prove  the  mightiest  man  in 
Scripture.  Theory  is  the  guide  of  practice,  practice  the 
life  of  theory  ;■  where  Scripture  contemplation  and  ex- 
perience meet  together  in  the  same  persons,  true  Script- 
ure understanding  must  needs  be  heightened  and 
doubled.f 

Biblical  interpretation  is  the  central  department  of 
biblical  study  whence  all  other  departments  derive  their 
material.  In  this  field  the  strifes  and  struggles  of  cent- 
uries have  taken  place.  There  is  no  department  of 
study  where  there  has  been  so  many  differences,  and 
where  there  still  remains  so  much  confusion.  The  Bi- 
ble has  human  features  and  divine  features.  To  under- 
stand them  in  their  harmonious  combination  is  the  se- 
cret of  interpretation.     This  secret  is  the  philosopher's 


*  Emesti,  Institutio  Interp.  N.  71,  1761,  §  10  ;  Principles  of  Interpretation^ 
ed.  Moses  Stuart,  Andover,  4th  edition,  1842,  p.  14,  seq. ;  Moms,  Hermeneutica 
N.  7".,  ed.  Eichstadt,  Lips.,  1797,  I.,  p.  3,  seq.  \  Immer,  Hermeneutics,  Ando- 
vt.r  edition,  1877,  p.  10. 

t  Clavis  Bibliorum^  4th  edit.,  London,  1675,  p.  11 ;  see  jdso  Rambach,  Insti- 
tutiones  Uermeneuticae,  Jena,  1723,  8th  edit.,  1764,  p.  2,  seq. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  £99 

stone  after  which  multitudes  of  interpreters  have  been 
seeking  through  the  Christian  centuries.  As  Lange  ap- 
propriately says  :  * 

"  As  Christ  has  overcome  the  world  by  his  cross,  as  the  blood  of 
the  martyrs  has  become  the  seed  of  the  Church,  so  also  the  miscon- 
ceptions and  abuse  of  the  Bible  have  been  obliged  to  more  and  more 
redound  to  its  glorification.  The  battle  of  Biblical  criticism  in  the 
first  four  centuries  brought  about  the  collection  and  establishment 
of  a  purified  canon  ;  the  arbitrariness  of  copyists  occasioned  the  col- 
lection of  codices  and  the  criticism  of  the  text ;  the  exegesis  of  the 
allegorical  method,  called  into  life  the  vindication  of  the  historical 
sense  of  Scripture  ;  the  fourfold  enchaining  of  the  Bible  by  exegeti- 
cal  tradition,  hierarchical  guardianship,  ecclesiastical  decisions,  the 
Latin  language,  raised  the  Bible  in  the  Protestant  world  almost 
above  the  dignity  of  a  historical  revelation  of  God  ;  the  humanistic 
exposition,  as  well  as  the  naturalistic  explanation  of  miracles,  called 
into  life  along  with  the  New  Testament  Grammar,  also  the  under- 
standing of  the  New  Testament  idiom,  over  against  its  customary 
depreciation  in  comparison  with  the  classic  models  ;  and  finally  the 
pantheistic  criticism  occasioned  the  revival  and  rich  unfolding  of 
evangelical  history." 

We  shall  first  consider  the  history  of  Biblical  interpre- 
tation, then  on  the  basis  of  its  history  state  its  princi- 
ples and  methods. 

I.   RABBINICAL  INTERPRETATION. 

The  Jewish  Rabbinical  schools  from  the  most  ancient 
times  recognized  alongside  of  the  written  Word  "bf  God, 
another  oral  or  traditional  word  of  much  greater  extent 
and  authority  delivered  to  the  ancient  teachers  and 
handed  down  from  generation  to  generation  in  the  eso- 
teric teaching  of  the  faithful  scribes,  as  the  official  inter- 
pretation of  the  written  word.  This  was  not  only  the 
view  of  the  Pharisees,  who  subsequently  committed  this 


*  Grundriss  der  biblischen  Hermeneutik,  Heidelberg:,  1S78,  p.  xxi. 


300  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

tradition  to  writing  in  the  Mishnas  and  Talmuds,*  but 
also  of  the  Zelots  and  Essenes  (see  p.  i8i).  It  was 
claimed  that  this  oral  divine  word  had  been  faithfully 
handed  down  from  Ezra,  who  received  it  by  divine  in- 
spiration as  esoteric  wisdom  for  the  initiated  disciples. 
Others  claimed  a  still  higher  antiquity  for  it,  going  back 
to  Joshua  and  the  elders,  and  even  in  part  to  the  twelve 
patriarchs,  Enoch  and  Adam  :  hence  the  large  number 
of  pseudepigraphs  in  which  this  wisdom  is  contained,  as 
well  as  in  the  Talmuds. 

This  traditional  interpretation  was  of  two  kinds,  Hala- 
cha  and  Haggada.  The  Halacha  was  legal,  containing 
an  immense  number  of  casuistic  distinctions,  making 
fences  about  the  law  in  wider  and  wider  sweep -till  the 
law  itself  became  for  the  people  of  God  as  inaccessible 
as  the  temple  of  Ezekiel,  into  which  none  but  the  priests 
of  the  line  of  Zadok  might  enter.  The  Haggada  was 
illustrative  and  practical,  embracing  a  wealth  of  legend 
apd  allegory  that  so  colored  and  enlarged  Biblical  his- 
tory that  it  became  as  obscure  as  the  New  Testament 
history  upon  the  palimpsests  under  the  legends  of  the 
monks  that  were  written  over  it. 

From  the  older  Halacha  and  Haggada  methods  of  iYi- 
terpretation,  were  subsequently  separated  the  Peshat  and 
the  Sodh.  The  Peshat  is  the  determination  of  the 
literal  sense,  and  is  really  a  branch  of  the  Halacha. 
The  Sodh  is  the  determination  of  the  mystical  or  alle- 
gorical sense  and  is  a  species  of  the  Haggada.^ 

The  rules  of  Rabbinical  interpretation  gradually  in- 
creased in  extent.     Seven  rules  of' the  Halacha  are  as- 


*  Weber,  System  d.  Altsynagogalen  Palestiniscken  Tkeot^tf  1880,  Le!p« 
zlg,  p.  92,  seg. 

t  Wogue  in  /.  c,  pp.  134,  164,  seq. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  30I 

cribed  to  Hillel  in  the  Siphra.*  These  are  enlarged  in 
the  Beraitha  of  R.  Ismael  to  thirteen.f 

These  rules  are :  (i)  That  which  is  true  of  the  easier 
or  less  is  true  of  the  greater  or  more  difficult,  and  the 
reverse ;  (2)  Two  similar  passages  supplement  one  an- 
other ;  (3)  That  which  is  clearly  established  in  one  part 
of  Scripture  is  to  be  presumed  in  interpreting  others ; 
(4)-(ii)  Eight  rules  with  reference  to  the  relation  of  the 
genus  to  the  species,  by  inclusion,  exclusion,  contrast,  and 
their  relation  to  a  third  term,  in  the  forms  of  Rabbinical 
logic;  (12)  The  word  is  determined  by  the  context,  and 
the  sentence  by  the  scope  of  the  passage;  (13)  When 
two  verses  contradict,  we  must  wait  for  a  third  to  explain 
them.  Some  of  these  rules  are  excellent,  and  so  far  as 
the  practical  logic  of  the  times  went,  cannot  be  disputed. 
The  fault  of  Rabbinical  exegesis  was  less  in  the  rules  than 
in  their  application,  although  latent  fallacies  are  not 
difficult  to  discover  in  them,  and  they  do  not  sufficiently 
guard  against  slips  of  argument. 

The  Haggada  method  was  elaborated  by  R.  Eliezar 
into  thirty-two  rules.:]: 

The  principles  of  the  two  methods  are  admirably 
summed  up  by  Wogue  : 

"  These  forty-five  rules  may  all  be  reduced  to  two  fundamental 
considerations,  (i)  Nothing  is  fortuitous,  arbitrary,  or  indifferent  in 
the  Word  of  God,  Pleonasm,  ellipsis,  grammatical  anomaly,  trans- 
position of  words  or  facts,  everything  is  calculated,  everything  has 
its  end  and  would  teach  us  something.     TTie  casual,  the  approxi- 


*  These  are  given  by  Schurer,  N.  T.  Zeitgesckichte,  1874,  p.  447,  and  Ilausratli, 
Zeit  Jesu.  Heidelberg,  p.  96. 

+  Chiarini  in  /.  c,  I.,  p.  66,  seq. ;  Weber  in  /.  c,  p.  106,  seq.  The  best  state- 
ment of  them,  with  ample  illustrations,  is  given  by  Waehner,  Antiquitates 
Ebraeorum,  Gottingae,  1743,  p.  422,  seq. 

X  Selections  of  these  are  given  by  Chiarini  in  /.  c,  I.,  p.  Si.  A  full  statement, 
with  ample  illustration,  is  given  by  Waehner  in  /.  r.,  I.,  p,,  396,  seq. 


302  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

mate,  the  insignificant  and  inconsequential  flower  of  rhetoric,  all 
that  belongs  to  the  setting  in  human  language,  are  strange  to  the 
severe  precision  of  Biblical  language.  (2)  As  the  image  of  its  au- 
thor, who  is  one  by  Himself  and  manifold  in  His  manifestations,  the 
Bible  often  conceals  in  a  single  word  a  crowd  of  thoughts ;  many  a 
phrase,  which  appears  to  express  a  simple  and  single  idea,  is  sus- 
ceptible of  diverse  senses  and  numberless  interpretations  indepen- 
dent of  the  fundamental  difference  between  literal  exegesis  and  free ' 
exegesis,  in  short,  as  the  Talmud  says  after  the  Bible  itself,  the 
divine  word  is  like  fire  which  divides  itself  into  a  thousand  sparks, 
or  a  rock  which  breaks  into  numberless  fragments  under  the  ham- 
mer that  attacks  it.  These  two  points  of  view,  I  repeat,  are  the 
soul  of  the  Midrash  in  general;  the  latter  above  all  serves  as  the 
common  basis  of  the  Halacha  and  Haggada,  and  it  explains,  better 
than  any  other  theory,  the  long  domination  of  the  midrash  exegesis 
in  the  synagogue."* 

This  admirable  statement  shows  the  radical  errors  of 
the  Rabbinical  idea  of  the  Scriptures :  (i)  everything 
must  be  interpreted  in  accordance  with  that  severe  pre- 
cision,  which  alone  is  worthy  of  God  ;  (2)  the  Scriptures 
are  altogether  divine  and  have  the  same  attributes  of 
unity  and  infinity  that  God  Himself  has.  The  human 
features  of  the  Bible  are  entirely  ignored. 

The  Sodk  was  used  in  the  most  ancient  times  by  the 
Essenes  and  Zelots  and  found  expression  in  the  numer- 
ous apocalypses  and  pseudepigraphs  of  the  four  centu- 
ries in  the  midst  of  which  the  Messiah  appeared.  It  at- 
tained its  culmination  in  the  Cabalistic  system  of  the 
thirteenth  century.f  These  mystics  regarded  every  let- 
ter of  the  Bible  as  so  highly  important  that  it  contained 
a  secret  sense  for  the  initiated.  The  book  of  SoharJ 
describes  the  system  in  the  following  parable  : 

"  Like  a  beautiful  woman,  concealed  in  the  interior  of  her  palace 


*  Wogue  in  /.  f.,  p.  169.  f  Ginsberg:,  Kabbalah,  London,  1865. 

J  II.  99.       ^ 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  393 

who  when  her  friend  and  beloved  passes  by,  opens  for  a  moment  a 
secret  window  and  is  seen  by  him  alone,  and  then  withdraws  herself 
immediately  and  disappears  for  a  long  time,  so  the  doctrine  only 
shows  herself  to  the  chosen,  (/.  e.,  to  him  who  is  devoted  to  her  body 
and  soul)  ;  and  even  to  him  not  always  in  the  same  manner.  At 
first  she  simply  beckons  at  the  passer-by  with  her  hand,  and  it  gen- 
erally depends  upon  his  understanding  this  gentle  hint.  This  is  the 
interpretation  known  by  the  name  t72"l-  Afterwards  she  approaches 
him  a  little  closer,  lisps  him  a  few  words,  but  her  form  is  still  cov- 
ered with  a  thick  veil  which  his  looks  cannot  penetrate.  This  is  the 
so-called  "©"I'm.  She  then  converses  with  him  with  her  face  cov- 
ered by  a  thin  veil;  this  is  the  enigmatical  language  of  m^n. 
After  having  thus  become  accustomed  to  her  society,  she  at  last 
shows  herself  face  to  face  and  entrusts  him  with  the  innermost  se- 
crets of  her  heart.     This  is  the  secret  of  the  law  ^^13,"  * 

There  are  three  principles  of  Cabalistic  interpretation  : 
(i)  Notariqon — to  reconstruct  a  word  by  using  the  ini- 
tials of  many,  or  a  sentence  by  using  all  the  letters  of  a 
single  word  for  initial  letters  of  other  words  ;  (2)  Ghema- 
tria — the  use  of  the  numerical  values  of  the  letters  of  a 
word  for  purposes  of  comparison  with  other  words  which 
yield  the  same  or  similar  combinations  of  numbers  ;  (3) 
Temiira — the  permutation  of  letters  by  the  three  Cabal- 
istic alphabets,  called  'At bach,  'Albam,  and  Athbash.\ 

The  Peshat,  or  literal  interpretation,  is  used  in  the  Tar- 
gum  of  Onkelos,  and  the  Greek  version  of  Aquila,  with 
reference  to  the  law — but  found  little  expression  among 
the  ancient  Jews.  The  Qarites  were  the  first  to  empha- 
size it  in  the  eighth  century.  Before  this  time  there  is 
no  trace  of  Hebrew  grammar,  or  Hebrew  dictionary. 
The  Qarites  threw  off  the  yoke  of  Rabbinical  Halacha, 
and  devoted  themselves  to  the  literal  sense  and  became 


*  We  give  the  translation  of  Ginsberg  in  /.  c,  p.  130 ;  comp.  Siegfried,  Phila 
von  Alexandria  als  AusUger  des  Alt.  Test.,  1875,  Jena,  p.  291. 

t  See  Ginsberg,  The  Kabbalah,  London,  1865,  p.  131,  seq.  ;  Wogue  in  /.  r., 
p.  274,  seq.  ;  Chiarini  in  /.  c,  p.  95,  seq. ;  Siegfried  in  /.  c,  p.  290,  seq. 


304  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

extreme  Hteralists.  Influenced  by  them  Saadia  intro- 
duced the  literal  method  into  the  Rabbinical  schools, 
and  used  it  as  the  most  potent  weapon  to  overcome  the 
Qarites.  He  became  the  father  of  Jewish  exegesis  in 
the  middle  ages,  and  was  followed  by  a  large  number  of 
distinguished  scholars  who  have  left  monuments  of 
Jewish  learning.*  Wogue  attributes  this  rise  of  the  lit- 
eral method  to  the  influence  of  Arabic  learning  at  Bag- 
dad, Bassora,  and  Cairo.  But  the  Arabs  and  the  Per- 
sians received  their  impulses  from  the  Nestorian  schools 
of  Edessa  and  Nisibis,  which  mediated  the  transition  of 
Greek  learning  to  the  Orient,  which  also  from  the  times 
of  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  and  Lucius  of  Samosata, 
had  been  chiefly  characterized  by  their  historic  method 
of  exegesis  (see  p.  325). 

Thus  in  Judaism  there  grew  up  three  great  parties 
which  struggled  with  one  another  during  the  middle 
ages.  The  sacred  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  were 
buried  under  a  mass  of  tradition  that  was  heaped  upon 
them  more  and  more  for  centuries  until  it  became 
necessary  for  the  interpreter,  who  would  understand  the 
holy  word  itself,  to  force  his  way  through  this  mass,  as 
at  the  present  day  one  who  would  find  the  ancient  Jeru- 
salem must  dig  through  eighteen  centuries  of  debris 
under  which  it  has  been  buried  in  the  strifes  of  nations. 

There  is  doubtless  truth  at  the  bottom  of  all  these 
systems.  There  is  a  certain  propriety  in  distinguishing 
the  fourfold  sense.  The  literal  sense  will  not  apply  ex- 
cept to  the  plainest  matter-of-fact  passages  ;  the  Haggada 
method  is  necessary  in  the  rhetorical  parts  of  Script- 
ure. The  Halacha  method  is  necessary  for  the  deter- 
mination of  the  principles  embedded  in  the  Scriptures. 


*  Wogue  in  /.  c,  p.  208,  sff. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  305 

The  Sodh  method  is  necessary  in  the  interpretation  of 
prophetic  symbolism,  and  the  esoteric  instruction  of  the 
Bible.  If  each  of  these  four  methods  had  been  restricted 
to  its  own  appropriate  sphere  in  the  Bible,  they  would 
have  co-operated  with  great  advantage — but  where  these 
methods  are  applied  at  the  same  time  to  the  same  pas- 
sages with  the  view  that  the  Scripture  has  a  manifold 
sense  ;  where  again  these  methods  are  applied  arbitrarily 
to  all  passages  ;  where  they  are  used  to  remove  difficul- 
ties, and  to  maintain  traditional  opinions ;  or  where  any 
one  method  is  made  to  usurp  the  functions  of  all ; — there 
can  only  result — as  there  did  result  in  fact — the  utmost 
arbitrariness  and  confusion.  The  Bible  was  no  longer 
interpreted — it  was  used  as  the  slave  of  traditional  sys- 
tems and  sectarian  prejudices. 

II.   HELLENISTIC   INTERPRETATION. 

The  Hellenistic  Jews  were  largely  under  the  influence 
of  the  Platonic  philosophy  which  they  sought  to  recon- 
cile with  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  The  chief  of 
the  Hellenistic  Jews  is  Philo  of  Alexandria.  Philo  was 
not  a  Hebrew  scholar,  but  was  acquainted  with  the 
Aramaic  of  Palestine,  and  probably  also  with  the  ancient 
Hebrew.'^  He  does  not  use  the  Hebrew  text,  but  bases 
himself  entirely  on  the  LXX,  and  uses  tradition  in  its  two 
forms  of  Halacha  and  Haggada,  but  especially  the  latter, 
which  he  elaborates  in  the  direction  of  the  Sodh  or  al- 
legorical method.  He  distinguishes  between  the  literal 
sense  and  the  allegorical  as  between  the  body  and  the 
soul,t  the  sense  like  a  fluid  pervades  the  letter.  The  al- 
legory is  a  wise  architect  which  builds  on  the  ground  of 
the  Scriptures  an  architectural  structure,:}: 


*  Siegfried  in  /.  c,  p.  141,  seq.      f  De  migr,  Abraham  xvi.     XDe  Somn.  ii.  3. 


300  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

The  allegorical  method  of  Philo  is  so  well  stated  by 
Siegfried,  that  we  shall  build  upon  him  in  detail,  while 
we  pursue  our  own  method  in  a  more  general  arrange- 
ment. There  are  three  rules  to  determine  when  the 
literal  sense  is  excluded ;  (i)  when  anything  is  said  un- 
worthy of  God ;  (2)  when  it  presents  an  insoluble  diffi- 
culty ;  (3)  when  the  expression  is  allegorical.  The  last 
rule  alone  is  sound,  the  others  are  a  priori,  and  result 
in  the  imposition  on  the  Scriptures  of  the  preconcep- 
tions and  prejudices  of  the  interpreter.  The  rules  of 
Philo's  allegorical  method  given  by  Siegfried  are  twenty- 
three  in  number.*  We  shall  arrange  them  under  four 
heads  in  a  somewhat  different  order. 

I.  Grammatical  allegory.  An  allegory  is  indicated 
in  the  use  of  certain  particles  ;  in  the  modifications  of 
words  by  prefixes  or  affixes ;  in  stress  upon  number  of 
noun  and  tense  of  verb  ;  in  gender  of  words ;  in  the  use 
or  absence  of  the  article.  Here  grammatical  exegesis  is 
insufficient ;  there  are  mysterious  hidden  meanings  to 
be  found  in  these  grammatical  peculiarities. 

II.  Rhetorical  allegory  is  found:  in  the  repetition  of 
words ;  in  redundancy  of  style ;  in  reiteration  of  state- 
ment ;  in  changes  of  expression  ;  in  synonyms  ;  in  play 
upon  words ;  in  striking  expressions ;  in  position  of 
words  ;  in  unusual  connections  of  verses  ;  in  the  omission 
of  what  would  be  expected  ;  in  the  unexpected  use  of 
terms.  Here  rhetorical  exegesis  is  insufficient ;  there 
must  be  a  hidden  sense  in  any  departure  from  the  plain 
prosaic  form. 

III.  Allegory  by  means  of  new  combinations  is  gained  : 
by  changing  the  punctuation ;  by  giving  a  word  all  its 
possible   meanings ;    by   internal   modifications   of  the 


*  In  /.  f.,  p.  165,  seq. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  307' 

word ;  by  new  combinations  of  words.  This  method 
was  more  fully  wrought  out  by  the  Cabalists  (see  p.  303), 
and  is  the  most  abnormal  of  all  the  forms  of  allegory. 

IV.  Symbolism  is  of  three  kinds  :  of  numbers,  of  things, 
and  of  names.  This  method  is  the  most  appropriate 
of  the  forms  of  allegory;  its  propriety  is  recognized  by 
modem  exegesis  when  used  within  due  bounds. 

To  Philo  and  his  school  the  inner  sense  attained  by 
allegory  was  the  real  sense  designed  by  God.  The 
method  of  Philo  was  doubtless  used  to  a  great  extent 
among  the  Essenes  and  the  Zelots.  There  are  traces  of 
it  in  the  pseudepigraphs  and  apocryphal  books  that  were 
composed  in  the  time  of  Philo.  Josephus  was  also  in- 
fluenced by  Philo,  and  was  inclined  to  the  use  of  alle- 
gory;  as  we  see  from  his  treatment  of  the  tabernacle.* 
There  is  truth  at  the  bottom  of  the  allegorical  method, 
namely,  that  human  language  is  inadequate  to  convey 
the  thoughts  of  God  to  man.  At  the  best  it  can  only  be  a 
sign  and  external  representation.  We  must  go  back  of 
the  sign  to  the  thing  signified.  The  mistake  of  the  alle- 
gorical method  is  in  extending  it  beyond  its  legitimate 
bounds,  and  making  every  word  and  syllable  and  letter 
of  Scripture  an  allegory  of  some  kind,  and  in  using  it  to 
escape  difficulties  of  philosophy  and  theology,  and  in 
order  to  maintain  peculiar  religious  views. 

III.  THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE  IN  THE  NEW 

TESTAMENT. 

The  writings  of  New  Testament  Scripture  use  and  in- 
terpret Old  Testament  Scripture.  It  is  important  for  us 
to  determine  the  nature  and  principles  of  this  interpre- 


•  Antiq.  iii.  7,  7  ;  Siegfried  in  /.  c,  p.  278,  seq. 


308  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

tatlon,  and  its  relation  to  the  Rabbinical  and  Hellenistic 
methods. 

In  the  Old  Testament  prior  to  the  exile,  the  prophets 
use  earlier  writings  by  way  of  citation  rather  than  inter- 
pretation.  This  use  is  in  the  nature  of  free  reproduction 
and  application  rather  than  an  exposition  of  their  sense. 
During  the  periods  of  oral  revelation  and  prophecy, 
the  interpretation  of  ancient  Scripture  was  of  little  im- 
portance. It  was  only  when  prophecy  ceased,  and  oral 
revelations  were  discontinued,  that  it  was  necessary  to 
ascertain  the  divine  will  by  the  interpretation  of  ancient 
written  documents. 

After  the  exile,  Ezra  introduced  the  more  systematic 
study  of  the  Scripture,  and  established  the  midrash 
method,  in  seeking  for  the  meaning  of  ancient  Scriptures, 
and  their  application  to  the  present.  The  people  were 
assembled,  and  Ezra  and  the  Levites  "  read  in  the  book 
in  the  law  of  God  distinctly,  and  gave  the  sense,  and 
they  understood  in  the  reading  "  (Neh.  viii.  8).  The 
aim  of  Ezra  and  his  associates  was  to  make  the  law  of 
God  so  plain  that  the  people  generally  could  under- 
stand it. 

The  New  Testament  writers  constantly  use  the  Old 
Testament.  Do  they  employ  the  methods  in  use  by 
the  Palestinian  and  Hellenistic  Jews  of  their  time? 
Different  answers  have  been  given  to  this  question  from 
partisan  points  of  view.  It  is  important  to  ascertain  the 
real  facts  of  the  case.  The  most  important  use  of  the 
Scripture  is  ever  the  last  and  the  highest  in  the  process 
of  interpretation,  namely,  practical  interpretation,  or  ap- 
plication ;  for  the  divine  revelation  has  in  view,  above 
all,  human  conduct.  This  is  most  frequently  employed 
in  the  New  Testament  by  Jesus  and  His  apostles.  The 
most  familiar  example   is   in   the  temptation  of  Jesus 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  309 

when  He  overcomes  Satan  by  the  application  of  the 
words  of  the  law :  "  Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone, 
but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of 
God  ";  "  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God "; 
,  "  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  Him  only 
shalt  thou  serve  "  (Matt.  iv.  4-10).  These  will  suffice, 
also,  as  specimens  of  the  literal  interpretation  as  used 
by  Jesus. 

In  conflict  with  the  Pharisees  He  sometimes  employs 
the  Halacha  method  as  most  appropriate  to  controversy 
with  them,  defeating  them  with  their  own  weapons. 
Thus  in  John  x.  34-36,  He  employs  Ps.  Ixxxii.  6,  argu- 
ing from  the  greater  to  the  less. 

"  Is  it  not  written  in  your  law  I  said,  ye  are  gods  ?  If  He  called 
them  gods,  unto  whom  the  word  of  God  came  (and  the  Scripture 
cannot  be  broken),  say  ye  of  him,  whom  the  Father  sanctified  and 
sent  into  the  world,  Thou  blasphemest ;  because  I  said,  I  am  the 
Son  of  God  ?  " 

In  Matt.  xxii.  43-45,  He  uses  the  Halacha  method  of 
arguing  from  the  inner  contrast  of  general  and  particu- 
lar in  Ps.  ex.  I. 

"  How  then  doth  David  in  the  Spirit  call  him  Lord,  saying  :  The 
Lord  said  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand,  till  I  put  thine 
enemies  underneath  thy  feet  ?  If  David  then  calleth  him  Lord,  how 
is  he  his  son  ?  " 

Again  in  Matt.  xii.  3  seq.,  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
Sabbath-law  He  quotes  from  i  Sam.  xxi.  1-7  ;  Num. 
xxviii.  9-10;  Hos.  vi.  6;  on  the  principle  that  Scripture 
passages  may  be  used  to  supplement  one  another. 

"  Have  ye  not  read  what  David  did,  when  he  was  an  hungered, 
and  they  that  were  with  him  ;  how  he  entered  into  the  house  of 
God,  and  did  eat  the  shew-bread  which  it  was  not  lawful  for  him 
to  eat,  neither  for  them  that  were  with  him,  but  only  for  the  priests  ? 
Or  have  ye  not  read  in  the  law  how  that  on  the  Sabbath  day  the 


310  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

priests  in  the  temple  profane  the  sabbath  and  are  guiltless  ?  But  I 
say  unto  you,  that  one  greater  than  the  temple  is  here.  But  if  ye 
had  known  what  this  meaneth;  I  desire  mercy  and  not  sacrifice,  ye 
would  not  have  condemned  the  guiltless." 

In  these  and  similar  instances  Jesus  interprets  Script- 
ure, as  a  Jewish  rabbin,  after  the  Halacha  method,  with 
which  the  Pharisees  were  familiar,  and  to  which  they 
were  accustomed  in  discussion  and  argument. 

Jesus  also  employs  the  Haggada  method.  This  in- 
deed is  His  own  favorite  method  of  teaching,  inasmuch 
as  His  discourses  were  in  the  main  addressed  to  the  peo- 
ple. His  method  of  illustration  and  enforcement  of 
truth  is  perfect  in  its  kind  as  only  a  divine  master  could 
fashion  it.  If  we  take  the  series  of  parables  in  Luke  xv. 
as  an  example,  what  could  be  more  simple,  appropriate, 
beautiful,  and  impressive  ?  They  have  been  the  gospel 
of  redemption  to  millions  of  our  race.  We  shall 
present  some  examples  of  this  method  of  interpretation. 
He  replies  to  the  bald  literalism  of  the  ruler  of  the  syna- 
gogue, Luke  xiii.  14  seq. : 

"  There  are  six  days  in  which  men  ought  to  work  :  on  them  come 
and  be  healed,  and  not  on  the  Sabbath  ";  "  Ye  hypocrites,  doth  not 
each  of  you  on  the  Sabbath  loose  his  ox  or  his  ass  from  the  stall, 
and  lead  him  away  to  the  watering  ?  And  ought  not  this  woman, 
being  a  daughter  of  Abraham,  whom  Satan  had  bound,  lo,  eighteen 
years,  to  have  been  loosed  from  this  bond  on  the  day  of  the  Sab- 
bath ?  •* 

In  the  interpretation  of  prophecy  and  history  Jesus 
comes  into  connection  with  the  allegorical  method  of  in- 
terpretation, and  it  has  been  claimed  that  He  applies  it 
with  the  freedom  of  a  Hellenist.  In  His  first  discourse 
in  the  synagogue  of  Nazareth  (Luke  iv.  16-22)  He  inter- 
prets the  prophecy  (Is.  Ixi.)  as  applying  to  Himself. 
This  prophecy  is  in  its  nature  figurative,  as  it  presents 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  3^1 

the  servant  of  Jehovah  in  his  faithful  preaching  to  the 
people.  Jesus  correctly  sees  the  inner  sense  of  the  pas- 
sage and  finds  His  own  likeness  depicted  there.  In  Matt. 
xxi.  42,  Jesus  interprets  the  corner-stone  of  Ps.  cxviii. 
22-23  ^s  referring  to  Himself  and  His  kingdom.  This 
is  not  a  prophecy  in  the  original  passage,  but  a  symboli- 
cal representation  of  the  re-establishment  of  the  king- 
dom of  God.  The  work  of  Jesus  was  pre-eminently  such 
a  work.  Hence  the  inner  sense  affords  the  connection 
that  makes  the  use  of  the  symbol  appropriate.  A  touch- 
ing example  of  the  historical  allegory  is  the  caution  of 
Jesus  (Luke  xvii.  32):  "Remember  Lot's  wife  "(Gen. 
xix.  26)  in  connection  with  his  prediction  of  the  judg- 
ment upon  Jerusalem  and  the  nations. 

We  shall  now  examine  some  of  the  most  striking  pas- 
sages, in  which  certain  distinguishing  features  of  our 
Saviour's  interpretation  appear.  The  Sadducees  came 
to  Him  (Matt.  xxii.  23-32)  with  a  difficult  question  un- 
der the  law  (Deut.  xxv.  5) : 

"  If  a  man  die,  having  no  children,  his  brother  shall  marry  his 
wife  and  raise  up  seed  unto  his  brother."  The  case  is,  "  Now  there 
were  with  us  seven  brethren :  and  the  first  married  and  deceased, 
and  having  no  seed,  left  his  wife  unto  his  brother ;  in  like  manner  the 
second  also,  and  the  third,  unto  the  seventh.  And  after  them  all 
the  woman  died.  In  the  resurrection  therefore  whose  wife  shall  she 
be  of  the  seven  ?  for  they  all  had  her." 

Jesus  does  not  determine  this  case  by  an  appeal  to  the 
Scripture,  but  on  His  own  authority,  delivers  a  doctrine 
which  settles  it :  "  In  the  resurrection  they  neither  marry, 
nor  are  given  in  marriage,  but  are  as  the  angels  in 
heaven."  He  takes  occasion,  however,  to  overcome  the 
Sadducean  denial  of  a  resurrection  by  an  appealto  Ex.  iii. 
6 :  "  Have  ye  not  read  that  which  was  spoken  unto  you 
by  God,  saying,  '  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the  God 


312  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob '  ?  God  Is  not  the  God 
of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living."  It  is  clear  that  our  Sav- 
iour takes  the  passage  out  of  its  context  and  gives  it  a 
meaning  which  no  one  would  ever  have  thought  of  on 
any  principles  of  exegesis.  Where  then  is  the  justifica- 
tion, and  what  is  the  method  ?  We  observe  that  He  de- 
rives from  the  statement  of  the  covenant  relation  be- 
tween God  and  the  patriarchs,  the  principle  that  God 
being  a  living  God,  the  relation  is  a  vital  relation,  and 
those  who  are  in  this  relation  are  living  ones  as  possess- 
ors of  the  life  they  have  received  from  God.  This  per- 
petuity of  life  after  death  tends  to  the  resurrection. 
Jesus  here  interprets  as  the  interpreter  of  the  mind  of 
God,  with  the  fulness'  of  the  Spirit  (John  i.  i8).  It  is  a 
transfiguration  of  the  Halacha  method.  No  principle  of 
exegesis  can  be  derived  from  His  example  in  this  case 
that  it  will  be  safe  for  human  exegesis  to  follow.  - 

In  the  sermon  on  the  mount  (Matt.  v.  21,  seq^,  in  His 
use  of  the  laws  of  the  tables,  He  contrasts  His  own  in- 
terpretation of  them  with  the  traditional.  The  latter 
looked  at  the  external  letter  and  warped  this  into  ac- 
cordance with  traditional  theory  and  practice.  He  en- 
ters into  the  internal  spirit.  He  goes  in  His  interpreta- 
tion beyond  any  human  propriety,  and  interprets  them 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  divine  lawgiver  Himself. 
No  human  interpreter  would  be  justified  in  following 
the  Master  thither.  It  is  His  sovereign  prerogative  so 
to  interpret. 

Jesus  recognizes  the  principle  of  accommodation  in 
the  use  of  the  Old  Testament  (Matt.  xix.  3,  seq^.  The  law 
of  divorce  was  granted  by  Moses,  owing  to  the  hardness 
of  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  his  time.  That  law  was, 
however,  inconsistent  with  the  original  divine  ideal  at 
the  creation.     And  here  again  Jesus  interprets  from  the 


THE  INTERPRETATlOxV  OF  SCRIPTURE.  313 

mind  of  God  in  the  Halacha  method,  the  words  of  Gen. 
ii.  24:  "  For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and 
mother,  and  shall  cleave  to  his  wife  ;  and  the  twain  shall 
become  one  flesh."  This  He  interprets  by  laying  hold 
of  the  great  thought :  "  one  Jlesh."  "  So  that  they  are  no 
more  twain,  but  one  flesh.  What  therefore  God  hath 
joined  together,  let  not  man  put  asunder."  No  one 
would  ever  have  thought  of  this  interpretation  but  Jesus, 
who  interpreted  the  mind  of  God,  the  creator  of  man  and 
the  author  of  marriage. 

In  Luke  xxiv.  44  seq.,  Jesus  said  : 

"  These  are  my  words  which  I  spake  unto  you,  while  I  was  yet 
with  you,  how  that  all  things  must  needs  be  fulfilled,  which  are  writ- 
ten in  the  law  of  Moses,  and  the  prophets,  and  the  psalms  concern- 
ing me.  Then  opened  he  their  mind,  that  they  might  understand 
the  Scriptures;  and  he  said  unto  them,  Thus  it  is  written,  that  the 
Christ  should  suffer,  and  rise  again  from  the  dead  the  third  day,  and 
that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name 
unto  all  nations,  beginning  from  Jerusalem." 

Here  our  Saviour  grasps  the  entire  Old  Testament 
revelation  in  its  unity,  and  represents  Himself  and  His 
kingdom  as  its  central  theme.  The  same  is  the  case  in 
the  institution  of  the  Lord's  supper  where  He  represents 
the  feast  as  the  new  covenant  feast  over  against  the  old 
covenant  sacrifice. 

Jesus  Christ  in  His  method  of  interpretation  thus  laid 
down  the  distinctive  principles  of  scriptural  interpreta- 
tion which  enabled  His  apostles  to  understand  the  Old 
Testament,  and  delivered  them  from  the  perils  of  the 
allegorical  and  legal  methods  of  His  times.  He  uses 
the  four  kinds  of  biblical  interpretation,  in  accordance 
with  the  usage  of  the  various  classes  of  men  in  His  times, 
in  those  ways  that  were  familiar  to  the  rabbinical  school, 
the  synagogue  instruction,  the  popular  audience,  and  the 
esoteric  training  of  the  disciple.     He  uses,  all  that  was 


^H 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


appropriate  in  these  methods ;  but  never  employs  any  of 
the  casuistry  or  hair-spHtting  Halacha  of  the  scribes ;  or 
any  of  the  idle  tales  and  absurd  legends  of  the  Hagga- 
da ;  or  any  of  the  strange  combinations  and  fanciful  re- 
constructions of  the  Sod/i  of  the  Alexandrians.  His  use 
of  Scripture  is  simple,  beautiful,  profound,  and  sublime. 
One  sees  through  the  Divine  Master  that  the  written 
Word  is  the  mirror  of  the  mind  of  God ;  and  the  eter- 
nal Word  interprets  the  former  from  the  latter.  The 
rabbins  interpreted  the  Scriptures  to  accord  with  the 
traditions  of  the  elders:  Jesus  interpreted  them  to  ac- 
cord with  the  mind  of  God  their  author.  Hence  the 
characteristic  authority  with  which  He  spake ;  the  free- 
dom with  which  He  added  to  the  ancient  Scriptures,  and 
substituted  a  higher  revelation  for  the  lower  wherever  it 
was  found  necessary.     As  Dorner  appropriately  says : 

"This  is  the  wondrous  charm  of  His  words,  their  unfathomable, 
mysterious  depth,  despite  all  their  simplicity,  that  they  are  ever  ut- 
tered, so  to  speak,  from  the  heart  of  the  question  ;  for  the  harmony 
which  binds  together  and  comprehends  in  one  vz'ew  the  opposite  ends 
of  things,  is  lovingly  and  consciously  present  to  Him,  since  everything 
is  related  to  His  kingdom.  Other  words  of  men,  this  or  that  man 
might  have  spoken  ;  nay,  most  that  is  spoken  or  done  by  us  is  merely 
a  continuation  of  others  through  us  ;  we  are  simply  therein  points  of 
transmission,  for  tradition.  But  the  words  which  He  drew  from 
<vithin — these  precious  gems,  which  attest  the  presence  of  the  Son 
of  Man,  who  is  the  Son  of  God — have  an  originality  of  an  unique 
order ;  they  are  His,  because  taken  from  that  which  is  present  in 
Him.  In  this  sense.  His  prophetic  activity  is  simply  manifestation. 
Certainly,  where  in  the  accommodation  of  love  He  condescends  to 
men  in  figurative  speech,  or  in  simple  talk,  intelligible  even  to  chil- 
dren, or  avails  Himself  of  ordinary,  especially  O.  T.  ideas.  He  there 
suppresses  the  rays  of  His  originality.  But  when  He  does  this,  it 
is  in  order  to  fill  the  O.  T.  husk  or  the  types  and  forms  taken  from 
nature  with  the  highest,  the  true  contents."  * 


*  System  of  Christian  Doctrine,  Vol.  III.,  p.  389. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  315 

Jesus  does  not  lay  down  any  principles  of  interpreta- 
tion. But  we  venture  from  the  synthesis  of  His  exegesis 
to  state  the  three  following  principles :  (i)  He  recog- 
nized that  the  words  of  Scripture  are  living  words  of 
God  to  man,  bearing  upon  human  conduct.  They  are 
to  be  interpreted  by  entering  into  living  communion 
with  the  living  God  and  from  internal  personal  relations 
to  their  author;  and  not  by  roundabout  methods  of  tra- 
ditional definitions  and  illustrative  legends.  (2)  The  di- 
vine revelation  was  made  on  the  principle  of  accommo- 
dation to  the  weakness,  ignorance,  and  sinfulness  of  man, 
requiring  no  more  than  he  was  able  to  bear.  The  tem- 
porary provisions  are  to  be  eliminated  from  the  eternal 
principles  and  the  divine  ideals.  (3)  The  Scriptures  are 
an  organic  whole,  the  Gospel  of  the  Messiah  is  the  ful- 
filment of  the  Old  Testament,  the  Messiah  and  His  king- 
dom the  key  to  the  whole.  These  were  fruitful  princi- 
ples and  ought  to  have  guided  the  Church  in  all  time 
and  preserved  it  from  manifold  errors. 

The  apostles  and  their  disciples  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment use  the  methods  of  the  Lord  Jesus  rather  than 
those  of  the  men  of  their  time.  The  New  Testament 
writers  differ  among  themselves  in  the  tendencies  of  theii 
thought.  Peter,  James,  and  Jude,  Matthew  and  Mark 
incline  to  use  the  Haggada  method  ;  Stephen,  Paul, 
and  Luke  to  the  more  learned  Halacha  method  ;  John 
and  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  to  the  Sodh  or  allegorical 
method  ;  but  in  them  all,  the  methods  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
prevail  over  the  other  methods  and  ennoble  them. 

(i)  The  Haggada  is  used  by  Peter  when  he  cites   Ps. 

Ixix.  25  ;  cix.  8  ;  in  Acts  i.  20,  with  reference  to  the  case 

of    Judas.     The  propriety  is  in  the  parallelism  of  the 

'cases  of  the  doom  of  the  traitor  and  persecutor.     Matt., 

in  his  gospel,  ii.  13-18,  makes  a  similar  use  of  Hos.  xi.  i, 


316  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

and  Jer.  xxxi.  15,  and  applies  them  to  the  situation  of 
Jesus.  There  is  here  a  parallelism  of  circumstances,  in 
which  the  ancient  prophecies  illustrate  the  descent  of 
Jesus  into  Egypt  and  the  lamentation  at  Bethlehem,  by 
the  descent  of  Israel  into  Egypt  and  the  wars  that  deso- 
lated Judea.  There  is  no  prediction  in  these  prophecies,  or 
interpretation  of  them  by  the  evangelist  as  prediction  ; 
but  the  association  of  the  passages  with  Jesus  has  its  pro- 
priety in  that  He  is  conceived  to  be  the  Messiah,  in 
whom  the  fortunes  of  Israel  are  involved.  "  Here  is 
incorrectness  of  form  with  truth  of  thought."  * 

The  epistle  of  James  (ii.  21,  seq')  uses  by  preference 
what  has  been  called  the  moral  Haggada.  To  maintain 
his  proposition  that  faith  without  works  is  dead,  he 
cites  the  examples  of  Abraham  and  Rahab  (Gen.  xxii. ; 
Josh.  ii.  8,  seq^.  So  he  refers  to  the  patience  of  Job 
(v.  11)  and  the  fervent  prayers  of  Elijah  (v.  17).  Paul 
also  uses  the  Haggada  in  his  citation  of  Ps.  xix.  4,  to  il- 
lustrate the  going  forth  of  the  gospel  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth  (Rom.  x.  18),  and  of  Deut.  xxx.  11  seq.y  to  illus- 
trate the  truth  that  the  word  of  the  gospel  was  nigh  in 
the  preaching  of  the  apostles,  in  the  faith  of  the  heart,  and 
in  the  confession  of  the  mouth  (Rom.  x.  6-10).  The  epis- 
tle to  the  Hebrews  uses  it  especially  in  calling  the  roll 
of  the  heroes  of  faith  in  chap.  xi.  There  are  also  a  few 
examples  in  the  New  Testament  of  the  use  of  legends 
and  fables  (2  Pet.  ii.  4  seq. ;  Jude  9  seq. ;  2  Tim.  iii.  8), 
for  purposes  of  illustration,  which  do  not  commit  the  au- 
thors to  their  historical  truthfulness. 

(2)  The  Halacha  method  is  used  by  Paul  arguing  from 
the  less  to  the  greater  (i  Cor.  ix.  9  seq. ;  Deut.'xxv.  4) ; 
from  analogy  (2  Cor.  iii.  7;  Ex.  xxiv.  17);  from  general 


♦  Tholuck,  Alt.  Test,  in  N.  7".,  6te  Aufl.,  Gotha,  i868,  p.  44. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  317 

to  particular  (Rom.  iv.  3  seq.,  from  Gen.  xv,  6 ;  Ps.  xxxii. 
I  ;  I  Cor.  xiv.  21  seq.,  from  Is.  xxviii.  11-12);  from  the 
combination  of  passages  to  prove  the  corruption  of  sin 
(Rom.  iii.  9-18;  from  Pss.  xiv.  1-3;  v.  9;  cxl.  3;  x.  7; 
Is.  lix.  7;  Ps.  xxxvi.  2). 

The  Halacha  method  is  also  used  by  James  to  prove 
his  point  that  whoso  transgresseth  one  of  the  laws  is 
guilty  of  all  (ii.  7-13)  by  citing  the  general  law  (Lev.  xix. 
18),  and  the  special  commands  (Ex.  xx.  13,  14),  and  the 
principle  of  mercy  and  justice  (Prov.  iii.  34). 

(3)  The  Allegorical  method  is  used  by  Paul  in  Gal.  iv. 
24,  where  Hagar  and  Sara  are  taken  to  represent  the 
Pharisee  and  the  Christian  ;  in  i  Cor.  x.  4,  where  he  uses 
the  water  from  the  rock  as  an  allegory  of  Christ.  Here 
the  apostle  sees  a  principle  clothed  in  the  history.  He 
uses  it  to  illustrate  and  enforce  an  analogous  case  where 
the  principle  applies.  As  Tholuck  says,  "  The  apostle 
is  like  one  who  has  seen  a  finished  picture  and  then  aft- 
erwards sees  in  the  sketch  of  it  more  than  we  do  who 
have  only  the  sketch."  *  Is  it  not  rather  that  with  the 
sun-light  of  an  inspired  prophetic  insight  he  sees  into  the 
essential  features  of  the  ancient  histories,  whereas  to  us 
they  are  in  the  obscurities  of  mere  candle-light  ?  He 
tells  us  more  about  them  than  we  can  see  even  with  his 
guidance.  It  is  in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  that  the 
allegorical  method  has  its  greatest  display  in  the  New 
Testament.  Paul  uses  it  occasionally,  the  author  of  the 
epistle  to  the  Hebrews  constantly.  As  Tholuck  says, 
"The  literary  character  of  Paul  is  Talmudic  and  dialec- 
tic, the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  is  Hellenistic  and  rhetor- 
ical." f  Thus  in  Heb.  iv.  the  Sabbath  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament is  used  to  allegorize  the  Sabbath  rest  at  the  end 

*  In  /.  c,  p.  37.  t  In  /.  c,  p.  52. 


31 S  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

of  the  world.  In  Heb.  vii.  the  person  and  office  of 
Melchizedek  are  used  to  allegorize  the  Messianic  high- 
priest,  and  there  is  an  allegory  in  the  etymology  of  the 
names  Salem  and  Melchizedek.  Here,  according  to 
Riehm,*  the  author  "leaves  out  of  consideration  the  his- 
torical meaning  of  Old  Testament  passages,  and  only 
sees  the  higher  prophetic  meaning  which  belongs  to 
them  on  account  of  their  ideal  contents." 

The  apostle  John  uses  the  allegorical  method  of  sym- 
bolism in  the  number  of  the  beast,  ^^  (Rev.  xiii.  i8); 
the  sun-clad  woman  (xii.  i  seq^ ;  the  river  Euphrates 
(xvi.  12) ;  the  city  of  Babylon  (xvii.  5  ;  xviii.  2)  ;  the  place 
Harmageddon  (xvi.  16) ;  the  prophetic  numbers  of  Daniel 
(xii.  6 ;  xiii.  5),  and  the  recombination  (in  xxi.-xxii.)  of 
the  ancient  prophecies  of  Ezek.  xxxviii.-xxxix. ;  Dan. 
vii.  9^1?^. ;  xii.;  Isa.  xxv.  8;  Ixv.  17  seq.,  and  the  de- 
scriptions of  Paradise  (Gen.  ii.  8  seq^. 

There  are  many  who  in  our  times  seek  to  explain  away 
the  allegorical  interpretation  as  used  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment as  unbecoming  to  Jesus  and  His  apostles.  These 
forget  that  it  was  just  this  allegorical  method  with  all 
its  abuses  that  has  been  chiefly  employed  in  the  syna- 
gogue and  in  the  church  for  ages  by  the  ablest  and  most 
pious  of  her  interpreters.  We  cannot  do  better  than 
quote  the  judicious  reproof  of  such  by  Bishop  Light- 
foot  :  f 

"  We  need  not  fear  to  allow  that  St.  Paul's  mode  of  teaching  here 
is  colored  by  his  early  education  in  the  rabbinical  schools.  It  were 
as  unreasonable  to  stake  the  Apostle's  inspiration  on  thfe  turn  of  a 
metaphor  or  the  character  of  an  illustration  or  the  form  of  an  argu- 
ment, as  on  purity  of  diction.  No  one  now  thinks  of  maintaining 
that  the  language  of  the  inspired  writers  reaches  the  classical  stand- 


*  Lekrb.  Hebrdfrbricfes,  Neue  Ausg.,  1S67,  p.  204. 

t  St.  PauFs  Efts  tie  to  the  Galatians.    Andover,  1870,  p.  370. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  SI9 

ard  of  correctness  and  elegance,  though  at  one  time  it  was  held  al- 
most a  heresy  to  deny  this.  '  A  treasure  contained  iii  earthen  ves- 
sels,' 'strength  made  perfect  in  weakness,'  'rudeness  in  speech,  yet 
not  in  knowledge,'  such  is  the  far  nobler  conception  of  inspired 
teaching,  which  we  may  gather  from  the  apostle's  own  language. 
And  this  language  we  should  do  well  to  bear  in  mind.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  were  sheer  dogmatism  to  set  up  the  intellectual  stand- 
ard of  our  own  age  or  country  as  an  infallible  rule.  The  power  of 
allegory  has  been  differently  felt  in  different  ages,  as  it  is  differently 
felt  at  any  one  time  by  diverse  nations.  Analogy,  allegory,  meta- 
phor— by  what  boundaries  are  these  separated,  the  one  from  the 
other  ?  What  is  true  or  false,  correct  or  incorrect,  as  an  analogy,  or 
an  allegory?  What  argumentative  force  must  be  assigned  to  either.' 
We  should  at  least  be  prepared  with  an  answer  to  these  questions, 
before  we. venture  to  sit  in  judgment  on  any  individual  case." 

(4)  The  apostles  were  taught  by  Jesus  to  consider  the 
old  covenant  as  a  whole  ;  to  see  it  as  a  shadow,  type, 
and  preparatory  dispensation  with  reference  to  the  new 
covenant ;  to  regard  the  substance,  and  disregard  the 
form.  Hence  under  the  further  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  they  eliminated  the  temporal,  local,  and  circum- 
stantial forms  of  the  old  covenant,  and  gained  the  uni- 
versal, eternal,  and  essential  substance  ;  and  this  they 
applied  to  the  circumstances  of  the  new  covenant,  of 
which  they  were  called  to  be  the  expounders.  They  in- 
terpreted in  accordance  with  the  mind  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
as  Jesus  had  interpreted  in  accordance  with  the  mind  of 
His  heavenly  Father. 

Thus  Peter  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  (Acts  ii.  16  seq^ 
grasps  the  situation  and  sees  in  the  outpouring  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  the  inauguration  of  the  new  dispensation 
described  by  the  prophet  Joel  (iii.).  In  his  epistle  (r  Pet. 
ii.  9  seq^  he  applies  the  Sinaitic  covenant  of  Ex.  xix.  to 
the  new  covenant  relations  of  Jesus.  This  was  from  the 
sense  of  the  unity  of  both  covenants  in  Christ,  and  the 
fulfilment  of  the  earlier  in  the  latter.     So  the  apostle 


320  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Paul  goes  back  of  the  law  of  Sinai  to  the  Abrahamic 
covenant  and  finds  that  all  believers  are  the  true  children 
of  Abraham  (Rom.  iv.).  In  Col.  ii.  17  he  represents  the 
ancient  institutions  as  "a shadow  of  the  things  to  come: 
but  the  body. is  Christ's."  And  so  the  author  of  the 
epistle  to  the  Hebrews  finds  the  entire  system  of  Levitical 
priesthood,  purification  and  offerings  fulfilled  in  Christ 
and  His  ministry,  so  that  the  form  is  thrown  off  now 
that  the  "  very  image  "  of  these  things  has  been  made 
manifest  (Heb.  x.  i  seq^.  The  author  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse gathers  up  the  substance  of  unfulfilled  prophecy 
and  attaches  it  to  the  second  advent  of  Jesus  Christ. 

This  organic  living  method  of  interpretation  of  Jesus 
and  His  apostles  is  the  true  Christian  method.  The 
errors  in  the  history  of  exegesis  have  sprung  up  to  the 
right  and  the  left  of  it. 

IV.    INTERPRETATION    OF  THE  FATHERS  AND   SCHOOL- 
MEN. 

In  the  ancient  church  the  methods  of  exegesis  *  of  the 
Palestinian  and  Hellenistic  Jews,  as  well  as  those  of 
Jesus  and  His  apostles,  were  reproduced.  The  strife  of 
the  various  elements  that  entered  into  the  apostolic 
church  is  clearly  to  be  seen  in  the  New  Testament  itself 
(Acts  XV. ;  I  Cor.  iii. ;  Gal.  ii. ;  i  Tim.  i. ;  James  ii. ; 
Rev.  ii.). 

The  Palestinian  methods  were  represented  in  the 
Ebionitesand  the  Jewish-Christian  tendency  that  passed 
over  into  the  church.     Thus  Papias,  in  his  naive  way, 


*  For  the  History  of  Exegesis  in  the  Christian  Church  see  Rosenmiiller,  His- 
toria  intetpretationis  librorum  sacrorum  in  Ecclesia  Christiana^  5  Tom., 
Hildburghusae,  1795-1814,  but  especially  Klausen,  Hermeneutik  des  Neuen  Tes- 
taments, Leipzig,  1841,  and  Samuel  Davidson,  Saa-ed  Hermeneutics,  Edin., 
1843. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  321 

appeals  to  the  elders,  Aristion,  the  Presbyter  John,  and 
others,  rather  than  to  the  New  Testament,  to  establish 
his  premillenarianism.*  The  Clementine  pseudepigraph 
represents  the  apostle  Peter  in  conflict  with  Simon  Ma- 
gus, as  the  embodiment  of  church  authority  over  against 
Gnosticism.  Peter,  speaking  of  the  prophetic  writings, 
is  made  to  say : 

"  Which  things  were  indeed  plainly  spoken,  but  are  not  plainly 
written  ;  so  much  so  that  when  they  are  read  they  cannot  be  under- 
stood without  an  expounder,  on  account  of  the  sin  which  has  grown 
up  with  men."t 

Tertullian  also  says : 

"  Our  appeal,  therefore,  must  not  be  made  to  the  Scriptures ;  nor 
must  controversy  be  admitted  on  points  in  which  victory  will  either 
be  impossible,  or  uncertain,  or  not  certain  enough The  nat- 
ural order  of  things  would  require  that  this  point  should  be  first  pro- 
posed, which  is  now  the  only  one  which  we  must  discuss :  '  With 
whom  lies  that  very  faith  to  which  the  Scriptures  belong?  From 
what,  and  through  whom,  and  when,  and  to  whom,  has  been  handed 
down  that  rule,  by  which  men  become  Christians  ?  '  For  wherever 
it  shall  be  manifest  that  the  true  Christian  rule  and  faith  shall  be, 
there  will  likewise  be  the  true  Scriptures  and  expositions  thereof,  and 
all  the  Christian  traditions."  J 

Irenaeus§  and  Cyprian  |  lay  stress  upon  the  literal 
method  of  exegesis  and  the  authority  of  tradition,  and 
exercised  an  unfortunate  influence  upon  the  early  Latin 
church. 

The  Hellenistic  methods  found  the  greatest  represen- 
tation in  the  early  church.  The  New  Testament  writers 
employed  the  Greek  language  and  the  LXX  version.  It 
is  probable  that  the  great  majority  of  the  earliest  Chris- 
tians were  Hellenists.     Naturally  the  influence  of  Philo 


*  Eusebius,  Eccl.  Hist.,  III.,  39.  f  Recoptitions,  I.,  c.  21. 

X  Adv.  Haer.,  c.  xix.        §  Adv.  Haer.,  I.,  c.  9,  4 ;  c.  10,  i.        |  Epist.  74. 

14* 


322  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

and  the  allegorical  method  became  very  great.  We  see 
that  influence  already  in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  and 
the  writings  of  John  the  apostle.  We  find  it  in  the 
epistles  of  Clement  of  Rome  and  Barnabas,  of  the  apos- 
tolic fathers ;  in  Justin  and  the  apologists  generally.* 
Clement  of  Alexandria  gave  it  more  definite  shape 
when  he  distinguished  between  the  body  and  soul  of 
Scripture  and  called  attention  to  its  fourfold  use.  He 
compares  it  to  engrafting:  (i)  The  way  in  which  we  in- 
. struct  plain  people  belonging  to  the  Gentiles,  who  re- 
ceive the  word  superficially ;  (2)  the  instruction  of  those 
who  have  studied  philosophy,  cutting  through  the  Greek 
dogmas  and  opening  up  the  Hebrew  Scriptures ;  (3)  over- 
coming the  rustics  and  heretics  by  the  force  of  the  truth  ; 
(4)  the  gnostic  teaching  which  is  capable  of  looking  into 
the  things  themselves.f     He  makes  the  wise  remark : 

"  The  truth  is  not  to  be  found  by  changing-  the  meanings,  but  in 
the  consideration  of  what  perfectly  belongs  to  and  becomes  the  sov- 
ereign God,  and  in  establishing"  each  one  of  the  points  demonstrated 
in  the  Scriptures  from  similar  Scriptures."  J 

Klausen  well  says : 

"  By  the  assertion  and  vindication  of  this  principle  of  interpreta- 
tion the  Alexandrian  teachers  have  been  the  preservers  of  the  pure 
Christian  doctrine,  when  the  crass  literal  interpretation  in  many 
parts  of  the  Latin  church,  especially  the  African  provinces,  worked 
to  justify  from  the  sacred  Scriptures  the  grossest  ideas  of  the  being 
of  God,  the  nature  of  the  soul,  and  the  future  life."  § 

Origen  carried  out  the  principles  of  interpretation 
still  further  and  became  the  father  of  the  allegorical 
method  in  the  church.  He  distinguishes  a  threefold 
sense :  body,  soul,  and   spirit. |      He   uses  thirteen   of 


*  Klausen  in  /.  c,  p.  97,  seq.  \  Stromata,  VI.  15. 

X  Stromata,  VII.,  16.  §  In  /.  c,  p.  103.  |  Horn.  V.  in  Lev, 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  323 

Philo's  rules.*  He  lays  stress  on  the  allegory  and  often 
uses  it  to  get  rid  of  anthropomorphisms ;  and  turns  a 
good  deal  of  ancient  Jewish  history  into  allegory — but 
he  does  not  neglect  the  literal  sense.  He  uses  the  three 
senses,  but  ranges  them  in  the  order  of  ascent  from  low- 
est to  highest,  and  finds  in  the  spiritual  sense  the  one 
chiefly  desirable. 

Eucherius  of  Lyons  in  the  first  half  of  the  fifth  cent- 
ury f  divides  the  mystical  sense  into  two  kinds,  the  alle- 
gorical, what  is  to  be  believed  in  now;  the  anagogical, 
what  is  predicted.:}:  In  Hilary  and  Ambrose  the  alle- 
gorical method  became  dominant  in  the  Latin  church. 
Ambrose  says : 

"  As  the  Church  has  two  eyes  with  which  it  contemplates  Christ ; 
namely,  a  moral  and  a  mystic,  of  which  the  former  is  sharper,  the 
latter  milder,  so  the  entire  divine  Scripture  is  either  natural,  or  moral 
or  mystic."  § 

Tychonius  belonged  to  this  school,  and  laid  down  seven 
rules  of  interpretation  :  (i)  Of  the  Lord  and  His  body  ; 
(2)  the  twofold  division  of  the  Lord's  body ;  (3)  prom- 
ises and  law;  (4)  relation  of  species  and  genus;  (5) 
the  times  ;  (6)  recapitulation  ;  (7)  the  devil  and  his  body. 
These  rules  have  more  to  do  with  the  doctrinal  substance 
of  the  Scriptures,  the  relation  of  the  church  to  Christ, 
the  law  to  the  gospel,  and  the  like.  They  have  been  of 
service  in  the  history  of  the  church  and  are  mentioned 
with  approval  by  Augustine,  although  he  shows  their 
insufficiency.  \     Augustine  gave  the  allegorical  method 


*  Siegfried  in  /.  c,  p.  353,  seq. 

t  Liber  formularum  spiritualis  iatelligentiae.  Migne  edition,  T.  50,  p.  727. 
See  Reuss,  Gesch.  d.  Hcil.  Scri/t.  N.  T.,  ^te  Ausg.,  Braunschweig,  1S64,  p.  543. 

X  Kihn,  Theodor  von  Mopsuestia  und  yunilius  Africanus  als  Excgeten. 
Freib.,  1S80,  p.  30. 

§  Exposit.  in  Ps.  czviii.,  Serm.  iL  n.  7,  ibid.  36,  Praef. 

I  De  doctrina,  III.  30. 


324  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

a  better  shaping  in  the  Latin  church.  He  distinguishes 
four  kinds  of  exegesis  :  (i)  historical,  (2)  etiological,  (3) 
analogical,  (4)  allegorical,*  and  lays  down  the  principle 
that  whatever  cannot  be  referred  to  good  conduct  or 
truth  of  faith  must  be  regarded  as  figurative.f  Klausen 
gives  a  careful  summary  of  the  exegetical  principles  of 
Augustine.  These  are  reproduced  by  Davidson,  from 
whom  we  quote  :{:  in  a  more  condensed  form  : 

"  (i)  The  object  of  all  interpretation  is  to  express  as  accurately  as 

possible  the  thoughts  and  meaning  of  an  author (2)  In  the 

case  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  this  is  not  attained  by  strictly  insisting  on 
each  single  expression  by  itself.  ....  (3)  On  the  contrary,  we  should 
endeavor  to  clear  up  the  obscurity  of  such  passages,  and  to  remove 
their  ambiguity — first,  by  close  attention  to  the  connexion  before  and 
after ;  next,  by  comparison  with  kindred  places  where  the  sense  is 
more  clearly  and  definitely  given  ;  and  lastly,  by  a  reference  to  the 
essential  contents  of  Christian  doctrine.  (4)  The  interpreter  of  Holy 
Scripture  must  bring  with  him  a  Christian  reverence  for  the  divine 
word,  and  an  humble  disposition  which  subordinates  preconceived 
opinions  to  whatever  it  perceives  to  be  contained  in  the  Word  of 
God (5)  Where  the  interpretation  is  insecure,  notwithstand- 
ing the  preceding  measures,  it  must  be  assumed,  that  the  matter  lies 
beyond  the  circle  of  the* essential  truths  belonging  to  the  Christian 
faith.  (6)  It  is  irrational  and  dangerous  for  any  one,  whilst  trusting 
in  faith,  and  in  the  promises  respecting  the  operations  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  on  the  mind,  to  despise  the  guidance  and  aid  of  science  in  the 
interpretation  of  Scripture." 

The  spirit  that  should  actuate  the  interpreter  is  beau- 
tifully stated  by  Augustine : 

"  The  man  who  fears  God  seeks  diligently  in  Holy  Scripture  for  a 
knowledge  of  His  will.  And  when  he  has  become  meek  through 
piety,  so  as  to  have  no  love  of  strife,  when  furnished  also  with  a 
knowledge  of  language  so  as  not  to  be  stopped  by  unknown  words 
and  forms  of  speech,  and  with  the  knowledge  of  certain  necessary  ob- 


*  De  util.  cred.,  c  5.  i  De  doctrina,  III.  15. 

X  Klausen  in  /,  c,  p.  162,  seq.  \  Davidson  in  /.  c,  p.  133,  seq. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  325 

jects,  so  as  not  to  be  ignorant  of  the  force  and  nature  of  those  which 
are  used  figxiratively ;  and  assisted,  besides,  by  accuracy  in  the  texts, 
which  has  been  secured  by  skill  and  care  in  the  matter  of  correction  ; 
— when  thus  prepared,  let  him  proceed  to  the  examination  and  solu- 
tion of  the  ambiguities  of  Scripture."  * 

We  think  that  Klausen  on  the  whole  is  justified,  so  far 
as  the  Latin  church  is  concerned,  in  his  statement  that : 

"  None  of  the  rest  of  the  fathers,  earlier  or  later,  came  near  Augus- 
tine in  the  conception  and  statement  of  the  essential  character  and 
conditions  of  the  interpretation  of  Scripture.  The  truths  which  the 
Reformation  in  the  si.x.teenth  century  again  invoked  into  fruitful  life, 
namely,  of  the  relation  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  to  Christian  doctrine, 
and  of  the  scientific  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures,  and  which  have 
become  subsequently  the  foundations  for  the  erection  of  evangelical 
dogmatics,  may  all  be  shown  in  the  writings  of  Augustine,  ex- 
pressed in  his  clear,  strong  language."  t 

This  should,  however,  be  qualified  with  the  remark 
that.  Augustine's  practice  did  not  altogether  accord  with 
his  precepts.  He  was  dominated  by  the  rule  of  faith:}: 
and  the  authority  of  the  church,  as  Irenaeus  and  Tertul- 
lian  had  been  ;  and  he  did  not  apprehend  the  essential 
Reformation  principle  of  scriptural  interpretation,  name- 
ly, the  analogy  of  faith  in  the  Scriptures  themselves. 
Augustine,  in  his  practice,  used  too  much  of  the  allegory  ; 
and  the  Latin  fathers  followed  his  example  rather  than 
his  precepts,  and  more  and  more  gave  themselves  up  to 
this  method.  Gregory  the  Great  went  to  the  greatest 
lengths  in  allegory. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  third  century  Lucius  of  Sam- 
osata  established  at  Antioch  a  new  exegetical  school, 
which  soon  rose  to  a  great  power  and  influence,  and  pro- 


*  De  doctrina^  III.  i.  t  In  /.  f.,  p.  165. 

\  Diestel,  Gesch.  d.  Alt.  Test,  in  d.  Christ.  ICirc/te,  Jena,  1869,  p.  85  ;  A.  Dor- 
ner,  Au^tstinus  sein  theologisches  System,  Berlin,  1873,  p.  240,  seg. 


326  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

duced  the  greatest  exegetes  of  the  ancient  church.  Its 
fundamental  principles  are  well  stated  by  Kihn.*  (i) 
Every  passage  has  its  literal  meaning  and  only  one  mean- 
ing. We  must,  however,  distinguish  between  plain  and 
figurative  language,  and  interpret  each  passage  in  ac- 
cordance with  its  nature.  (2)  Alongside  of  the  literal 
sense  is  the  typical  sense,  which  arises  out  of  the  rela- 
tion of  the  old  covenant  to  the  new.  It  is  based  upon 
the  literal  sense  which  it  presupposes.  These  are  sound 
principles  and  are  in  accord  with  the  usage  of  the  New 
Testament. 

"  The  Antiochans  mediated  between  the  two  contrasted  positions^ 
a  coarse,  childish,  literal  sense,  and  an  arbitrary  allegorical  interpre- 
tation ;  between  the  extremes  of  the  Judaizers  and  Anthropomorphites 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Hellenistic  Gnostics  and  Origenists  on  the 
other ;  and  they  paved  the  way  for  a  sound  biblical  exegesis  which 
remained  influential  for  all  coming  time,  if  indeed  not  always  preva- 
lent." t 

The  Antiochan  school,  h'ke  all  others,  produced  schol- 
ars of  different  tendencies.  Some  of  them,  like  Theo- 
dore of  Mopsuestia,  Diodorus  of  Tarsus,  and  Nestorius 
pressed  historical  and  grammatical  exegesis  too  far,  to 
the  neglect  of  the  higher  typical  and  mystical ;  but  in 
Chrysostom,  Theodoret,  and  Ephraim  the  Syrian,  the 
principles  of  the  school  find  expression  in  the  noblest 
products  of  Christian  exegesis,  which  served  as  the  reser- 
voir of  supply  for  the  feeble  traditionalists  of  the  middle 
ages;  and  are  valued  more  and  more  in  our  own  times.:f 

With  the  decline  of  the  scliool  of  Antioch,  its  princi- 
ples were  maintained  at  Edessa  and  Nisibis,  and  thence 
gave  an  impulse  to  the  Arabs  and  the  Jewish  exegesis 
of  the  middle  ages,  and  thus  in  a  roundabout  way  again 


♦  In  /.  c,  p.  29.        t  Kihn  in  /.  r.,  p.  29.        J  Diestel  in  /.  c,  pp,  135,  138. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  327 

influenced  the  church  of  the  West  at  the  Reformation. 
But  an  earlier  influence  may  be  traced  in  the  reproduc- 
tion of  the  work  of  Paul  of  Nisibis  by  Juniliiis  Africanus 
in  his  Institutes.*  The  rules  of  Junilius  are  brief  but 
excellent : 

"  {pisciple).  What  are  those  things  which  we  ought  to  guard  in  the 
understanding  of  the  sacred  Scriptures  .'*  {Master).  That  those  things 
which  are  said  may  agree  with  Him  who  says  them  ;  that  they  should 
not  be  discrepant  with  the  reasons  for  which  they  were  said  ;  that 
they  should  accord  with  their  times,  places,  order,  and  intention. 
{Disciple).  How  may  we  learn  the  intention  of  the  divine  doctrine.-* 
{Master).  As  the  Lord  Himself  says,  that  we  should  love  God  with 
all  our  hearts  and  with  all  our  souls  and  our  neighbors  as  ourselves. 
But  corruption  of  doctrine  is,  on  the  contrary,  not  to  love  God  or  the 
neighbor."  t 

The  school  of  Nisibis  influenced  the  Occident  also 
through  Cassiodorus,  who  wished  to  establish  a  corre- 
sponding theological  school  at  Rome,  but  failed  on  ac- 
count of  the  warlike  times.:}:  If  this  had  been  accom- 
plished, the  history  of  the  middle  age  might  have  been 
ver>-  different.  He  introduced  the  methods  of  the  school 
of  Nisibis  in  his  Institutions.  This  was  an  impor- 
tant text-book  in  the  middle  age  and  exerted  a  health- 
ful influence.  He  urges  to  use  the  fathers  as  a  Jacob's 
ladder  by  which  to  rise  to  the  Scriptures  themselves. 
He  insists  upon  the  comparison  of  Scripture  with  Script- 
ures, and  points  out  that  frequent  and  intense  medita- 
tion is  the  way  to  a  true  understanding  of  them.§ 

Jerome  seems  to  have  occupied  an  intermediate  and 
not  altogether  consistent  position.  He  strives  for  his- 
torical and  grammatical  exposition,  yet  it  is  easy  to  see 

*  Inst:  tut  a  Regular  ia  Divinae  Legis.  t  Kihn  in  /.  f.,  p.  526. 

X  Kihn  in  /.  f.,  p.  210. 

§  Kihn  in  /.  c,  pp.  211-212;  Prae/.  de  Jnstit.  div.  lift.,  Migne,  T.  70^  p. 
1 105,  seg. 


328  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

that  at  the  bottom  he  is  more  inclined  to  the  allegorical 
method.  He  lays  down  no  principles  of  exegesis,  but 
scattered  through  his  writings  one  finds  numerous  wise 
remarks  : 

"  The  sacred  Scripture  cannot  contradict  itself."  *  "  Whoever  in- 
terprets the  gospel  in  a  different  spirit  from  that  in  which  it  was 
written,  confuses  the  faithful  and  distorts  the  gospel  of  Christ."  t 
"  The  gospel  consists  not  in  the  words  of  Scripture  but  in  the  sense, 
not  in  the  surface  but  in  the  marrow,  not  in  the  leaves  of  the  words 
but  in  the  roots  of  the  thought."  J 

Thus  there  grew  up  in  the  ancient  church  three  great 
exegetical  tendencies :  the  literal  and  traditional,  the  al- 
legorical and  mystical,  the  historical  and  ethical,  and 
these  three  struggled  with  one  another  and  became  more 
and  more  interwoven,  in  the  best  of  the  fathers,  but  took 
on  all  sorts  of  abnormal  forms  of  exegesis  in  others. 

In  the  middle  age  the  vital  Christian  spirit  was  more 
and  more  suppressed,  and  ecclesiastical  authority  as- 
sumed the  place  of  learning.  The  traditional  principle 
of  exegesis  became  more  and  more  dominant  and  along- 
side of  this  the  allegorical  method  was  found  to  be  the 
most  convenient  for  reconciling  Scripture  with  tradition. 
The  literal  and  the  historical  sense  was  alrnost  entirely 
ignored.  The  fourfold  sense  became  fixed,  as  expressed 
in  the  saying :  the  literal  sense  teaches  what  has  been 
done,  the  allegorical  what  to  believe,  the  moral  what  to 
do,  the  anagogical  whither  we  are  tending.§ 

In  the  middle  age  exegesis  consisted  chiefly  in  the  re- 
production of  the  expositions  of  the  fathers,  in  collec- 
tions and  compilations,  called  epitomes,  glosses,  postilles, 
chains.     In  the  Oriental  church  the  chief  of  these  com- 


♦  Epist.  ad  Marcellam.  t  Epist.  ad  Gal.  i.  6.  %  Epist.  ad  Gal.  i.  ii. 

§  Litera  gesta  docet^  quid  credas  allegoria,  moralis  quid  agas,  quo  tendas 
Anagogia. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  339 

pilers  were:  Oecumenius  (1999),  Theophylact  (f  1007), 
and  Euthymius  Zigabenus  {fill  8).  These  contain  chiefly 
the  exegesis  of  Chrysostom,  Theodoret,  and  the  Anti- 
ochan  school.     In  the  Occidental  church,  there  is  more 
independence  and  greater  use  of  the  allegory.    The  chief 
Latin  expositors  of  the  middle  age  are,  Beda  (f  735),  Al- 
cuin  (f  804),  Walafrid  Strabo  (f  849),  Rhabanus  Maurus 
(1856),    Peter    Lombard    (11164),    Thomas    Aquinas 
(ti274),*  Hugo  de  St.  Caro  (f  1260).     The  only  exegete 
of  the  middle  age  who  shows  any  acquaintance  with  the 
Hebrew  text  of  the  Old  Testament  is  the  converted 
Jew,  Nicolaus  de  Lyra  (f  1340).    He  seems  to  have  appre- 
hended better  than  any  previous  writer  the  proper  exe- 
getical  method,  but  could  only  partly  put  it  in  practice. 
He  was  doubtless  influenced  greatly  by  the  grammatical 
exegesis  of  the  Jews  of  the  middle  age,  from  Saadia's 
school,  and  especially  by  Raschi.f     He  wrote  postilles 
on  the  entire  Bible.     He  mentions  the  four  senses  of 
Scripture  and  then  says  : 

"  All  of  them  presuppose  the  literal  sense  as  the  foundation.  As 
a  building,  declining  from  the  foundation,  is  likely  to  fall,  so  the  mys- 
tic exposition,  which  deviates  from  the  literal  sense,  must  be  reck- 
oned unbecoming  and  unsuitable." 

And  yet  he  adds  : 

"  I  protest,  I  intend  to  say  nothing  either  in  the  way  of  assertion 
or  determination,  except  in  relation  to  such  things  as  have  been 
clearly  settled  by  Holy  Scripture  on  the  authority  of  the  church.  All 
besides  must  be  taken  as  spoken  scholastically  and  by  way  of  exer- 


*  His  Catena  Aurea  on  the  Gospels  have  been  translated  by  Pusey,  Keble, 
and  Newman,  6  vols.,  Oxford,  1870 ;  and  may  be  consulted  as  the  most  accessible 
specimen  of  the  intetpretation  of  the  middle  age. 

t  See  Siegfried,  RaschVs  Einfluss  an/  Nicolaus  von  Lira  und  Luther  in  der 
Anslegung  der  Genesis,  in  Merx,  Arc/iiv,  I.,  p.  428,  seg. ;  II.,  p.  39,  seg. 


330  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

cise ;  for  which  reason,  I  submit  all  I  have  said,  and  aim  to  say,  to 
the  correction  of  our  holy  mother  the  church."  * 

In  such  bondage  to  the  infallable  church,  it  is  astonish- 
ing that  he  accomplished  so  much.  He  exerted  a  health- 
ful, reviving  influence  in  biblical  study  and  in  a  measure 
prepared  for  the  Reformation.  There  is  truth  in  the 
saying,  "  If  Lyra  had  not  piped,  Luther  would  not  have 
danced."  f  Luther  thought  highly  of  Lyra,  and  yet 
Luther  really  started  from  a  principle  entirely  different 
from  the  literal  sense.  For  this  he  was  rather  prepared 
by  Wicklif  and  Huss.  Wicklif  was  a  contemporary  of 
Lyra,  and  opposed  the  abuse  of  the  allegorical  method 
from  the  spiritual  side,  and  in  contrast  with  Lyra  recog- 
nized the  authority  of  the  Scriptures  as  above  the  au- 
thority of  the  church.  He  makes  the  all-important  state- 
ment which  was  not  allowed  to  die,  but  became  the  Puri- 
tan watchword  in  subsequent  times':  "The  Holy  Spirit 
teaches  us  the  sense  of  Scripture  as  Christ  opened  the 
Scriptures  to  His  apostles.":}:  Huss  and  Jerome  of 
Prague  followed  Wicklif  in  this  respect. § 

With  reference  to  the  interpretation  of  the  middle  age 
as  a  whole,  the  remarks  of  Immer  are  appropriate :  | 

"  It  lacks  the  most  essential  qualification  to  scriptural  interpreta- 
tion, linguistic  knowledge,  and  historical  perception This  de- 
fect inheres  in  the  mediaeval  period  in  general.  Hence  there  could 
be  no  advance  in  interpretation.  But  what  it  could  do  it  did  :  it  col- 
lected and  preserved  ;  and  what  was  thus  preserved  waited  for  new 
fructifying  elements,  which  were  to  be  introduced  in  the  second  half 
of  the  fifteenth  century." 


*  Postillae  perpctuae,  sen  brevia  commentaria  in  Universa  Biblia,  prol.  ii. , 
Davidson  in  /.  c,  p.  175.  seq. 

+  Si  Lyra  non  lyrasset,  Lutherus  non  saltasset. 

X  Lechler,  Johann  von  Wiclif,  Leipzig,  1873,  I.,  p.  483,  seq.  ;  Lorimer's  edi- 
tion, London,  1S78,  II.,  p.  29,  seq. 

%  Gillett,  Life  and  Times  0/ John  Huss,  Boston,  1864,  2d  ed.,  L,  p.  295,  seq. 

I  In  /.  c,  p.  37. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  33;^ 

The  mediceval  exegesis  reached  its  culmination  at  the 
Council  of  Trent,  where  Roman  Catholic  interpretation 
was  chained  forever  in  the  fourfold  fetters:  that  it  must 
be  conformed  to  the  rule  of  faith,  the  practice  of  the 
church,  the  consent  of  the  fathers,  and  the  decisions  of 
the  councils.  But  the  seeds  of  a  new  exegesis  had  been 
planted  by  Lyra  and  Wicklif  which  burst  forth  into 
fruitful  life  in  the  Protestant  Reformation. 

V.   THE   INTERPRETATION    OF   THE    REFORMERS   AND 
THEIR   SUCCESSORS. 

The  Reformation  was  accompanied  by  a  great  revival 
of  Biblical  Study  in  all  directions,  but  especially  in  the 
interpretation  of  the  Scriptures.  The  Humanists  were 
influenced,  by  their  studies  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew 
languages  and  literatures,  to  apply  this  new  learning  to 
the  study  of  the  Bible.  Erasmus  is  the  acknowledged 
chief  of  interpreters  of  this  class.  He  insisted  that  the 
interpretation  of  the  Scriptures  should  be  in  accordance 
with  the  original  Greek  and  Hebrew  texts,  and  urged 
the  giving  of  the  grammatical  and  literal  sense  over 
against  the  allegorical  sense,  which  had  been  the  ally  of 
tradition.*  The  Humanists,  however,  did  not  go  to  the 
root  of  the  evil ;  they  were  too  deferential  to  the  author- 
ity of  the  Church,  and  sought  to  correct  the  errors  in 
exegesis  by  purely  scholarly  methods.  The  Reformers, 
however,  revived  the  principle  of  Wicklif  and  Huss, 
strengthened  it,  and  made  it  invincible.  They  urged 
the  one  literal  sense  against  the  fourfold  sense,  but  they 
still  more  insisted  that  Scripture  should  be  its  own  in- 
terpreter, and  that  it  was  not  to  be  interpreted  by  tra- 
dition or  external  ecclesiastical  authority.  Thus,  Luther 
says : 

*  Klausen  in  /.  c,  p.  237. 


332  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

"Every  word  should  be  allowed  to  stand  in  its  natural  meaning, 
and  that  should  not  be  abandoned  unless  faith  forces  us  to  it."*  .... 
"  It  is  the  attribute  of  Holy  Scripture  that  it  interprets  itself  by 
passages  and  places  which  belong  together,  and  can  only  be  under- 
stood by  the  rule  of  faith."  t 

Tyndale  says : 

"  Thou  shall  understand,  therefore,  that  the  Scripture  hath  but 
one  sense,  which  is  the  literal  sense.  And  that  literal  sense  is  the 
root  and  ground  of  all,  and  the  anchor  that  never  faileth,  whereunto 
if  thou  cleave,  thou  canst  never  err  or  go  out  of  the  way.  And 
if  thou  leave  the  literal  sense,  thou  canst  not  but  go  out  of  the  way. 
Neverthelater,  the  Scripture  useth  proverbs,  similitudes,  riddles,  or 
allegories,  as  all  other  speeches  do ;  but  that  which  the  proverb, 
similitude,  riddle,  or  allegory  signifieth,  is  ever  the  literal  sense, 
which  thou  must  seek  out  diligently :  as  in  the  English  we  borrow 
words  and  sentences  of  one  thing,  and  apply  them  unto  another, 
and  give  them  new  significations."  .  .  .  .  "  Beyond  all  this,  when 
we  have  found  out  the  literal  sense  of  the  Scripture  by  the  process 
of  the  text,  or  by  a  like  text  of  another  place,  then  go  we  ;  and  as 
the  Scripture  borroweth  similitudes  of  worldly  things,  even  so  we 
again  borrow  similitudes  or  allegories  of  the  Scripture,  and  apply 
them  to  our  purposes  ;  which  allegories  are  no  sense  of  the  Script- 
ure, but  free  things  besides  the  Scripture,  and  altogether  in  the  liberty 
of  the  Spirit."  "  Finally,  all  God's  words  are  spiritual,  if  thou  have 
eyes  of  God,  to  see  the  right  meaning  of  the  text,  and  whereunto 
the  Scripture  pertaineth,  and  the  final  end  and  cause  thereof."  J 

The  view  of  the  Reformed  churches  is  expressed  in 
the  2d  Helvetic  Confession  (ii.  i) : 

"  We  acknowledge  that  interpretation  of  Scripture  for  authentical 
and  proper,  which  being  taken  from  the  Scriptures  themselves  (that 
is,  from  the  phrase  of  that  tongue  in  which  they  were  written,  they 
being  also  wayed  according  to  the  circumstances  and  expounded 
according  to  the  proportion  of  places,  either  like  or  unlike,  or  of 


*  Walch,  xix.,  p.  1601.  t  Walch,  iii.,  p.  2042. 

X  The  Obedience  0/ a  Christian  Man,  1528 ;  Parker  edition,  Doctrinal  Treat- 
ises, p.  307,  scq. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  333 

more  and  plainer),  accordeth  with  the  rule  of  faith  and  charity,  and 
maketh  notably  for  God's  glory  and  man's  salvation."  ♦ 

The  Reformers  produced  masterpieces  of  exegesis  by 
these  principles,  and  set  the  Bible  in  a  new  light  before  the 
world.  Luther,  Zwingli,  and  Calvin  especially  were  great 
exegetes;t  Bullinger(ti575),  Oecolampadius(ti53i),  Me- 
lancthon,  Musculus  (11563),  were  worthy  to  stand  by  their 
side.  Their  immediate  successors  had  somewhat  of  their 
spirit,  although  the  sectarian  element  already  influences 
them  in  the  maintenance  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  dif- 
ferent churches.  The  Hermeneutical  principles  of  the 
Lutherans  are  well  stated  by  Matth.  Flacius  ;  :j:  those  of 
the  Reformed  by  And.  Rivetus.§  The  weakness  of  the 
Reformation  principle  was  in  the  lack  of  clear  definition 
of  what  was  meant  by  the  analogy  or  rule  of  faith.  It 
is  clear  that  the  Reformers  set  the  rule  of  faith  in  the 
Scriptures  themselves, — in  the  substance  of  doctrine  ap- 
prehended by  faith.  But  when  it  came  to  define  what 
that  substance  was,  there  was  difficulty.  Hence,  so 
soon  as  the  faith  of  the  church  was  expressed  in  sym- 
bols, these  were  at  first  unconsciously,  and  at  last  avow- 
edly, identified  with  this  Scripture  rule  of  faith.  The 
Lutheran  scholastic  Gerhard  says : 

"  From  these  plain  passages  of  Scripture  the  rule  of  faith  is  col- 
lected, which  is  the  sum  of  the  celestial  doctrine  collected  from  the 
most  evident  passages  of  Scripture.  Its  parts  are  two — the  former 
concerning  faith,  whose  chief  precepts  are  expressed  in  the  apostles' 
creed ;  the  latter  concerning  love,  the  sum  of  which  the  decalogue 
explains."  I 


*  We  give  the  English  version  oi  Harmony  of  the  Confessions ,  London,  1643, 
on  account  of  its  historical  relations. 

t  Klausen  in  /.  c,  p.  223 ;  also,  p.  112. 

X  Clavis  Scripturae  Sacrae^  Antwerp,  1567 ;  Basilese,  1609.  Best  edition,  ed. 
Musaeus,  1675. 

§  Isagoge,  1627.  I  Gerhard,  Loci,  Tubingae,  1767,  Tom.  I.,  p.  53. 


334  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Hollazius*  defines  the  analogy  of  faith:  "the  funda- 
mental articles  of  faith,  or  the  principal  chapters  of  the 
Christian  faith  collected  from  the  clearest  testimonies  of 
the  Scriptures."  Carpzovf  makes  it:  "the  system  of 
Scripture  doctrine  in  its  order  and  connection." 

If  this  system  of  doctrine  had  been  that  found  in  the 
Scriptures  themselves,  in  accordance  with  the  modern 
discipline  of  Biblical  Theology,:}:  there  would  have  been 
some  propriety  in  the  definition  ;  but  inasmuch  as  the 
scholastic  theologians  proposed  to  express  that  system 
of  doctrine  in  their  theological  commonplaces,  in  other 
methods  and  forms  than  those  presented  in  the  Script- 
ures, practically  the  rule  or  analogy  of  faith  became 
these  theological  systems,  and  so  an  external  rule  was 
substituted  for  the  internal  rule  of  the  Scriptures  them- 
selves; the  Reformation  principle  was  more  and  more 
abandoned  ;  and  the  Jewish  Halacha,  and  the  mediaeval 
scholastic  re-entered,  and  took  possession  of  Protestant 
exegesis. § 

The  Reformed  church  was  slower  in  attaining  this 
result  than  the  Lutheran  church,  owing  to  the  exegetical 
spirit  that  had  come  down  from  Oecolampadius,  Calvin, 
and  Zwingli ;  but  already  Beza  leads  off  in  the  wrong 
direction  ;  and  notwithstanding  the  great  stress  laid  upon 
literal  and  grammatical  exegesis  by  Cappellus  and  the 
school  of  Saumur  in  France ;  by  Drusius,  De  Dieu,  and  . 
Dan.  Heinsius  in  Holland ;  the  drift  was  in  the  scholastic 
direction ;  and  wheri  the  Swiss  churches  arrayed  them- 
selves against  the  French  exegetes ;  and  the  churches  of 
Holland  were  divided  by  the  Arminian  controversy,  and 
the  historical  and  literal  exegesis  came  to  characterize 


*  Exam.  Tkeologici  Acroamatici,  1741,  Holmiae,  p.  1777. 

+  Prima  Lineae  Herm.     Helmstad.,  1790,  p.  28.  J  See  Chap.  XI. 

§  Volck,  in  Zockler,  Handb.  Theo.  fViss.,  p.  657 ;  Klausen  in  /.  c,  p.  354. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  335 

more  and  more  the  latter;  the  scholastic  divines  more 
and  more  employed  the  dogmatic  method,  and  urged  to 
interpret  in  accordance  with  the  external  rule  of  faith. 

VI.     THE     INTERPRETATION     OF     THE     PURITANS,    AND 

THE     ARMINIANS. 

British  Puritanism  remained  true  to  the  Reformation 
principle  of  interpretation  till  the  close  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  The  views  of  Tyndale  and  the  Puritans  went 
deeper  into  the  essence  of  the  matter  than  those  of  the 
continental  reformers.  This  was  doubtless  owing  to  the 
fact  of  their  conflict  against  ecclesiastical  authority  and 
the  prelatical  party,  and  their  protests  against  the  obtru- 
sion of  Popish  ceremonies  on  the  Christians  of  England. 
They  urged  more  and  more  the  principle  of  the  Script- 
ures alone  as  the  rule  of  the  church,  and  made  the/z^j 
divinufn  the  supreme  appeal.    Thus  Thomas  Cartwright : 

"  Scripture  alone  being  able  and  sufficient  to  make  us  wise  to 
salvation,  we  need  no  unwritten  verities,  no  traditions  of  men,  no 
canons  of  councels,  or  sentences  of  fathers,  much  less  decrees  of 
popes,  to  supply  any  supposed  defect  of  the  written  word,  or  to  give 
us  a  more  perfect  direction  in  the  way  of  life,  then  is  already  set 
down  expressly  in  the  canonicall  Scriptures They  are  of  di- 
vine authority.  They  are  the  rule,  the  line,  the  squyre  and  light, 
whereby  to  examine  and  trie  all  judgements  and  sayings  of  men, 
and  of  angels,  whether  they  be  such  as  God  approveth,  yea  or  no  ; 
and  they  are  not  to  be  judged  or  sentenced  by  any."  * 

Especially  noteworthy  is  the  statement  that  no  ex- 
ternal rule  is  to  be  used  to  supply  any  supposed  de- 
fects of  the  written  word,  and  that  plain  direction  is 
given  by  what  is  set  down  expressly  in  the  Scripture. 


♦  Treatise  0/  Christian  Religion,  1616,  p.  78. 


336  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

John  Ball  *  gives  an  admirable  statement  of  the  Puritan 
position  : 

"  The  expounding  of  the  Scriptures  is  commanded  by  God,  and 
practiced  by  the  godly,  profitable  both  for  the  unfolding  of  obscure 
places,  and  applying  of  plaine  texts.  It  stands  in  two  things,  (i)  In 
giving  the  right  sense.  (2)  In  a  fit  application  of  the  same.  Of  one 
place  of  Scripture,  there  is  but  one  proper  and  natural!  sense,  though 
sometimes  things  are  so  expressed,  as  that  the  things  themselves 
doe  signifie  other  things,  according  to  the  Lord's  ordinance :  Gal. 
iv.  22,  23,  24  ;  Ex.  xii.  46,  with  John  xix.  36  ;  ^s.  ii.  I,  with  Acts  iv. 
34,  25,  26.  We  are  not  tyed  to  the  expositions  of  the  Fathers  or 
councels  for  the  finding  out  the  sense  of  the  Scripture,  the  Holy 
Ghost  speaking  in  the  Scripture,  is  the  only  faithful  interpreter  of 
the  Scripture.  The  meanes  to  find  out  the  true  meaning  of  the 
Scripture,  are  conference  of  one  place  of  Scripture  with  another, 
diligent  consideration  of  the  scope  and  circumstances  of  the  place, 
as  the  occasions,  and  coherence  of  that  which  went  before,  with  that 
which  followeth  after ;  the  matter  whereof  it  doth  intreat,  and  cir- 
cumstances of  persons,  times  and  places,  and  consideration,  whether 
the  words  are  spoken  figuratively  or  simply ;  for  in  figurative  speeches, 
not  the  outward  shew  of  words,  but  the  sense  is  to  be  taken,  and 
knowledge  of  the  arts  and  tongues  wherein  the  Scriptures  were 
originally  written.  But  alwayes  it  is  to  bee  observed,  that  obscure 
places  are  not  to  bee  expounded  contrary  to  the  rule  of  faith  set 
downe  in  plainer  places  of  the  Scripture." 

The  analogy  or  rule  of  faith  is  expressly  defined  by 
him  as  "  set  downe  in  plainer  places  of  the  Scripture," 
and  it  is  maintained  that  "  the  Holy  Ghost  speaking  in 
the  Scripture  is  the  only  faithful  interpreter  of  Script- 
ure." This  improvement  of  the  Protestant  principle  by 
lifting  it  to  the  person  of  the  Holy  Spirit  speaking  in 
the  word  to  the  believer,  prevents  any  substitution  of 
an  external  symbol  or  system  of  theology  for  the  rule  of 


*  Short  Treatise  containing  all  the  principall  Grounds  of  Christian  Religion. 
Tenth  Impression.     London,  1635.     p.  39. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  337 

faith  of  the  Scriptures  themselves.  Archbishop  Usher 
takes  the  same  position  as  Ball :  * 

"  The  Spirit  of  God  alone  is  the  certain  interpreter  of  His  word 
written  by  His  Spirit.  For  no  man  knoweth  the  things  pertaining 
to  God,  but  the  Spirit  of  God  (I.  Cor.  ii.  11) The  interpreta- 
tion therefore  must  be  of  the  same  Spirit  by  which  the  Scripture  was 
written  ;  of  which  Sp'irit  we  have  no  certainty  upon  any  man's 
credit,  but  onely  so  far  forth  as  his  saying  may  be  confirmed  by  the 

Holy  Scriptures How  then  is  the  Scripture  to  be  interpreted 

by  Scripture?  According  to  the  analogy  of  faith  (Rom.  xii.  6),  and 
the  scope  and  circumstance  of  the  present  place,  and  conference  of 
other  plain  and  evident  places,  by  which  all  such  as  are  obscure  and 
hard  to  be  understood  ought  to  be  interpreted,  for  there  is  no  matter 
necessary  to  eternal  life,  which  is  not  plainly,  and  sufficiently  set 
forth  in  many  places  of  Scripture." 

These  extracts  from  the  Puritan  fathers,  who  chiefly- 
influenced  the  Westminster  divines,  will  enable  us  to 
understand  the  principles  of  interpretation  laid  down  in 
the  Westminster  Confession  (I.  9-1OJ,  which  are  in  ad- 
vance of  all  the  symbols  of  the  Reformation  in  this  par- 
ticular : 

"  The  infallible  rule  of  interpretation  of  Scripture  is  the  Scripture 
itself;  and  therefore,  when  there  is  a  question  about  the  true  and 
full  sense  of  any  Scripture  (which  is  not  manifold,  but  one),  it  myst 
be  searched  and  known  by  other  places  that  speak  more  clearly  " 

(§9). 

"  The  supreme  judge,  by  which  all  controversies  of  religion  are  to 
be  determined  and  all  decrees  of  councils,  opinions  of  ancient  writ- 
ers, doctrines  of  men,  and  private  spirits,  are  to  be  examined,  and  in 
whose  sentence  we  are  to  rest,  can  be  no  other  but  the  Holy  Spirit, 
speaking  in  the  Scripture  "  (§  10). 

These  principles  of  interpretation  give  the  death-blow 
to  the  manifold  sense,  and  also  to  any  external  analogy 
of  faith  for  the  interpretation  of  Scripture.     It  has  been 


*  Body  0/ Divtnitie,  London,  1645.     Fourth  Edit.,  London,  1653,  pp.  24,  25. 

15 


338  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

made  contra-confessional  in  those  churches  which  adopt 
the  Westminster  symbols  to  believe  and  teach  any  but 
the  one  true  and  full  sense  of  any  Scripture,  or  to  appeal 
to  "  doctrines  of  men,"  or  any  external  rule  or  analogy 
of  faith,  or  to  make  any  other  but  the  Holy  Spirit  Him- 
self the  supreme  interpreter  of  Scripture  to  the  believer 
and  the  church.  It  was  not  without  good  and  sufificient 
reasons  that  the  Westminster  divines  substituted  the 
"  Holy  Spirit  speaking  in  the  Scripture  "  for  the  analogy 
of  faith  which  had  been  so  much  abused,  and  which  was 
to  be  still  more  abused  by  the  descendants  of  the  Puri- 
tans, after  they  had  forgotten  their  Puritan  fathers,  and 
resorted  to  the  Swiss  and  Dutch  scholastics  for  theolog- 
ical instruction. 

Edward  Leigh  (a  lawyer  and  member  of  the  Long 
Parliament,  and  said  to  have  been  a  lay  member  of  the 
Westminster  Assembly,)  clearly  states  the  Puritan  posi- 
tion *  in  his  chapter  on  the  Interpretation  of  Scripture  : 

"  The  Holy  Ghost  is  the  judge,  and  the  Scripture  is  the  sentence 
or  definitive  decree.  We  acknowledge  no  publick  judge  except  the 
Scripture,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  teaching  us  in  the  Scripture,  He  that 
made  the  law  should  interpret  the  same."  .  .  .  .  "  The  Papist  says, 
that  the  Scripture  ought  tp  be  expounded  by  the  rule  of  faith,  and 
therefore  not  by  Scripture  only.  But  the  rule  of  faith  and  Scripture 
is  all  one.  As  the  Scriptures  are  not  of  man,  but  of  the  Spirit,  so 
their  interpretation  is  not  by  maA,  but  of  the  Spirit  likewise,"  t 

We  shall  call  attention  to  some  other  features  of  the 
interpretation  of  the  seventeenth  century  in  England, 
because  it  has  been  neglected  by  British  and  American 


*  Systeme,  or  Body  o/ Divinity.    London,  1654,  pp.  107,  119. 

t  Thomas  "Watson,  in  bis  Body  0/  Practical  Divinity,  in  exposition  of  the 
Westminster  Shorter  Catechism,  London,  1692,  p.  16,  takes  the  same  position  : 
"  The  Scripture  is  to  be  its  own  interpreter,  or  rather  the  Spirit  speaking  in  it ; 
nothing  can  cut  the  diamond  but  the  diamond  ;  nothing  can  interpret  Scripture 
but  Scripture ;  the  sun  best  discovers  itself  by  its  own  beams." 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  339 

scholars,  and  consequently  also  by  German  critics  and 
historians,  upon  whom  many  of  our  modern  Anglo-Saxon 
interpreters  depend,  conservative  and  progressive  alike. 
Henry  Ainsvvorth  says  : 

"  I  have  chiefly  laboured  in  these  annotations  upon  Moses,  to  ex- 
plain his  words  and  speech  by  conference  with  himself,  and  other 
prophets  and  apostles,  all  which  are  commenters  upon  his  lawes, 
and  do  open  unto  us  the  mysteries  which  were  covered  under  his 
veile ;  for  by  a  true  and  sound  literal!  explication,  the  spiritual  mean- 
ing may  be  the  better  discerned.  And  the  exquisite  scanning  of 
words  and  phrases,  which  to  some  may  seeme  needlesse,  will  be 
found  (as  painful  to  the  writer)  profitable  to  the  reader."* 

Francis  Taylor,  a  Westminster  divine,  a  great  Hebrew 
scholar  and  Talmudist,  author  of  many  commentaries 
and  other  practical  and  theological  works,  says  rf 

"  The  method  used  by  me  is  new,  and  never  formerly  exactly  fol- 
lowed in  every  verse,  by  any  writer,  Protestant  or  Papist,  that  ever  I 
read,  (i)  Ye  have  the  grammatical  sense  in  the  various  significa- 
tions of  every  Hebrew  word  used  throughout  the  Old  Testament, 
which  gives  light  to  many  other  texts  ;  (2)  Ye  have  the  rhetorical 
sense,  in  the  tropes  and  figures ;  (3)  The  log^call,  in  the  several 
arguments  ;  (4)  The  theological  in  divine  observations." 

This  is  an  exact  and  admirable  method  which  would 
have  delighted  Ernesti  in  the  next  century,  if  he  had 
known  of  it,  with  the  exception  of  the  last  point  in 
which  the  Puritan  practical  interpretation  comes  in  play. 
Edward  Leigh :}:  also  lays  down  excellent  principles  : 

"  The  word  is  interpreted  aright,  by  declaring  (i)  the  order,  (2) 
the  summe  or  scope,  (3)  the  sense  of  the  words,  which  is  done  by 
framing  a  rhetorical  and  logical  analysis  of  the  text.  In  giving  the 
sense,  three  rules  are  of  principal  use  and  necessity  to  be  observed. 


*  Pentateuch^  Preface,  1626. 

t  Epist.  dedicatory  to  the  Exposition  0/ t/ie  Proverbs,    London,  1655. 

I  In  /.  c,  p.  119. 


340  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

(i)  The  literal  and  largest  sense  of  any  words  in  Scripture  nnust  not 
be  embraced  further  when  our  cleaving  thereto  would  breed  some 
disagreement  and  contrariety  between  the  present  Scripture,  and 
some  other  text  or  place,  else  shall  we  change  the  Scripture  into  a 
nose  of  wax.  (2)  In  case  of  such  appearing  disagreement,  the  Holy 
Ghost  leads  us  by  the  hand  to  seek  out  some  distinction,  restriction, 
limitation  or  signe  for  the  reconcilement  thereof,  and  one  of  these 
will  always  fit  the  purf>ose  ;  for  God's  word  must  always  bring  per- 
fect truth,  it  cannot  fight  against  itself.  (3)  Such  figurative  sense, 
limitation,  restriction  or  distinction  must  be  sought  out,  as  the  word 
of  God  affordeth  either  in  the  present  place  or  some  other ;  and 
chiefly  those  that  seem  to  differ  with  the  present  text,  being  duly 
compared  together." 

We  do  not  know  where  a  more  careful  statement,  of 
this  delicate  problem  of  harmonizing  Scripture  with 
Scripture,  can  be  found.* 

The  Puritan  interpreters  laid  stress  upon  the  practical 
interpretation,  or  application  of  Scripture.  The  best 
statement  is  found  in  the  Key  of  the  Bible,  by  Francis 
Roberts,  4th  edition,  London,  1675,  p.  5,  seq. : 

"That  the  Holy  Scriptures  may  be  more  profitably  and  clearly  un- 
derstood, certain  rules  or  directions  are  to  be  observed  and  followed  : 

"  I.  Some  more  special afid peculiar,  more  particularly  concerning 
scholars.     As  (i)  The  competent  understanding  of  the  original  lan- 


*  This  same  Edward  Ldgh  was  one  of  the  best  Biblical  scholars  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  He  published  Annotations  upon  all  the  New  Testament,  phil- 
log^call  and  Theologicall  wherein  the  emphasis  and  elegance  of  the  Greeke  is  ob- 
served, some  imperfections  in  our  translation  are  discovered,  divers  Jewish  rites 
and  customes  tending  to  illastrate  the  text  are  mentioned,  many  antilogies  and 
seeming  contradictions  reconciled,  severall  darke  and  obscure  places  opened, 
sundry  passages  vindicated  from  the  false  glosses  of  Papists  and  Heretics.  Lon- 
don, 1650,  folio.  The  title  is  descriptive  of  a  sound  method.  He  also  published 
Critica  Sacra  on  the  Hebrew  of  the  Old  Testament.  4to,  London,  1639.  Crit' 
tea  Sacra  on  the  Greek  0/  the  New  Testament.  4to,  London,  1646.  These 
were  combined  in  a  folio,  1662.  They  were  translated  into  Latin  by  Henry  Mid- 
doch  and  published  at  Amsterdam,  1679,  and  then  at  Leipzig,  1696,  with  Pref- 
ace by  John  Meyer,  a  Hebrew  Professor  there,  and  in  this  way  exerted  a  great 
influence  on  the  continent  until  the  close  of  the  century. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  341 

guages (2)  The  prudent  use  of  Logick (3)  The  sub- 
servient help  of  other  arts,  as  Rhetoric,  Natural  Philosophy,  etc. 
....  (4)  The  benefit  of  humane  histories  to  illustrate  and  clear  the 
theme.  (5)  The  conferring  of  ancient  translations  with  the  origi- 
nals  (6)  The  prudent  use  of  the  most  orthodox,  learned,  and 

judicious  Commentators,      (7)  Constant  caution  that  all  tongues, 
arts,  histories,  translations,  and  comments  be  duly  ranked  in  their 
proper  places  in  subserviency  under,  not  in  regency  or  predomi- 
nancy over  the  Holy  Scriptures  which  are  to  controle  them  all." 
"  II.  Some  more  general  and  common  directions,  which  may  be 

of  use  to  all  sorts  of  Christians  learned  and  unlearned (i) 

Beg  wisdom  of  the  onely  wise  God,  who  gives  liberally  and  upbraids 

not (2)  Labour  sincerely  after  a  truly  gracious  spirit,  then 

thou  shalt  be  peculiarly  able  to  penetrate  into  the  internal  marrow 

and  mysteries  of  the  hoHy  Scriptures (3)  Peruse  the  Scripture 

with  an  humble  self-denying  heart (4)  Familiarize  the  Script- 
ure to  thyself  by  constant  and  methodical  exercise  therein (5) 

Understand  Scripture  according  to  the  theological  analogy,  or  cer- 
tain rule  of  faith  and  love (6)  Be  well  acquainted  with  the 

order,  titles,  times,  penman,  occasion,  scope,  and  principal  parts  of 
the  books,  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  (7)  HeedfuUy  and 
judiciously  observe  the  accurate  concord  and  harmony  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  (8)  Learn  the  excellent  art  of  explaining  and  under- 
standing the  Scriptures,  by  the  Scriptures.  (9)  Endeavor  sincerely 
to  practice  Scripture,  and  you  shall  solidly  understand  Scripture." 

We  have  given  these  rules  at  length,  both  on  account 
of  their  intrinsic  excellence  and  also  to  call  attention  to 
a  work  of  great  value  which  has  been  lost  sight  of  for  a 
long  time  in  the  history  of  interpretation. 

This  same  Francis  Roberts, — who  was  a  Presbyterian 
minister  of  London  during  the  Commonwealth  period,  and 
at  the  restoration  remained  with  the  Established  church, 
— is  the  author  of  a  massive  work  in  two  folio  volumes, 
which  construct  a  system  of  theology  on  the  doctrine  of 
the  covenants.* 


*  T\\^  Mysterte  and  Marrow  0/  the  Bible:  viz.,  God's  Covenants  with  man, 
in  the  first  Adam,  be/ore  the  Fall ;  and  in  the  last  Adam,  Jesus  Christ,  a/tei' 


342  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

In  his  epistolary  introduction  he  says :  "  I  began  my 
weekly  lectures,  to  treat  of  God's  Covenants,  on  Sept. 
2,  165 1,  and  have  persisted  therein  till  the  very  publica- 
tion of  this  book,  in  May,  1657." 

In  the  same  introduction  he  describes  his  treatise  as 

"  A  Work  of  vast  extent,.comprising  in  it :  all  the  methods  of  divine 
dispensations  to  the  Church  in  all  ages  ;  all  the  conditions  of  the 
Church  under  those  dispensations  ;  all  the  greatest  and  precious 
promises,  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come ;  all 
sorts  of  blessings  promised  by  God  to  man  ;  all  sorts  of  duties  re- 
promised  by  man  to  God  ;  all  the  gradual  discoveries  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  only  Mediator  and  Saviour  of  sinners ;  the  whole  mystery  of  all 
true  religion  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  world  ;  and  which 
as  a  continued  thred  of  gold  runs  through  the  whole  series  of  all  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  ....  because  I  have  set  my  heart  exceedingly  to 
the  Covenants  of  my  God,  which  (in  my  judgment)  are  an  universal 
basis  or  foundation  of  all  true  religion  and  happiness,  I  have  shunned 
no  diligence,  industry^  or  endeavor  that  to  me  seemed  requisite  for 
the  profitable  unveiling  of  them." 

Francis  Roberts  in  this  work  carries  out  a  plan  de- 
vised and  partially  executed  by  John  Ball.*  According 
to  Thomas  Blake,t  "  his  purpose  was  to  speak  on  this 
subject  of  the  covenant,  all  that  he  had  to  say  in  all  the 
whole  body  of  divinity.  That  which  he  hath  left  behind 
gives  us  a  taste  of  it."  In  this  Ball  anticipated  .Cocce- 
ius  and  the  Dutch  Federal  theology,  as  indeed  his  system 
of  the  covenants  is  of  a  purer  type,  having  all  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  historical  method  of  the  Dutch  Federal 
school  without  its  far-fetched  typologies.     Indeed  the 


tke  Fall;  from  the  Beginning  to  the  End  of  the  World;  Unfolded  and  Illus' 
trated  in  positive  Aphorisms  and  their  Explanations,     a  vols.,  London,  1657. 

*  Treatise  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  London,  1645,  4to,  published  after  his 
death  by  his  friend  Simeon  Ashe,  and  with  commendatory  notices  by  five  other 
Westminster  divines. 

t  Treatise  of  tlu  Covenant  of  God  entered  xuith  mankinde  in  the  several 
kindes  and  degrees  of  it.     Preface,  London,  1653. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  343 

theology  of  the  covenants  had  been  embedded  in  Puri- 
tan theology  since  Thomas  Cartwright.*  The  covenant 
principle  is  also  in  Usher's  Body  of  Divinity,  and  the 
Westminster  symbols.  In  truth,  the  historical  principle 
that  characterizes  the  covenant  theology  is  better  wrought 
out  by  John  Ball  and  Francis  Roberts  than  by  Cocceius. 
It  will  be  found  that  the  doctrine  of  the  covenants  passed 
over  from  England  with  the  Puritan  spirit  into  Holland, 
into  the  Federal  school,  and  thence  into  Spener  and  the 
German  Pietists.  The  essential  mystic  spirit  is  common 
to  these  three  great  movements  which  were  the  historic 
successors  of  one  another  in  the  order,  England,  Hol- 
land, Germany,  although  each  assumed  a  form  adapted 
to  its*  peculiar  circumstances  and  conditions.f 

The  Federal  school  in  Holland  was  characterized  by  a 
tendency  to  allegorize,  which  was  foreign  to  the  best 
Puritan  type,  although  Thomas  Brightman,  in  his  Com- 
mentaries on  Revelation,  Song  of  Songs,  and  Daniel, 
reintroduced  the  allegorical  method  into  the  Protestant 
church  and  carried  it  to  great  lengths.  He  had  not  a 
few  followers  in  Great  Britain,  and  on  the  continent 
where  his  works  were  republished. 

This  element  is  united  with  the  principle  of  the  cove- 
nant in  the  Federal  theology,  and  proved  its  greatest 
weakness.  The  Federal  theology,  however,  exerted  a 
wholesome  influence  in  preserving  the  mystic  spirit  of 
interpretation  over  against  the  purely  external  historical 
method  of  the  Arminians ;  and  in  maintaining  the  his- 
toric method  of  divine  revelation  over  against  the  exter- 

*  In  his  Treatise  0/  Christian  Religion,  1616,  he  treats  first  of  the  doctrine  of 
God  and  then  of  man  ;  next  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  this  he  divides  into  two 
parts  :  the  doctrine  of  the  Covenant  of  Works,  called  the  law,  the  Covenant  of 
Grace,  the  gospel ;  and  treats  of  Christology  and  Soteriology  under  the  latter. 

t  Cocceius  was  a  pupil  of  Ames,  the  British  Puritan.  See  Mitchell,  IVestmin- 
ster  Assembly,  London,  1883,  p.  344,  seq. 


344  *  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

nal  and  mechanical  systematizing  of  the  Dutch  scholas- 
tics. Spener  and  the  German  Pietists  also  represented 
the  mystic  spirit  of  interpretation  and  adopted  many  of 
the  chief  features  of  Puritanism.  They  laid  stress  upon 
personal  relations  to  God  and  experimental  piety  in  or- 
der to  the  interpretation  of  Scripture.  This  was  accom- 
panied among  the  best  of  them  with  true  scholarship. 
The  Pietistic  interpretation  may  be  found  stated  by 
Franke,*  but  especially  by  Rambach,f  whose  work  was 
fruitful  for  many  generations  and  still  retains  its  value. 
The  best  exegete  in  this  direction  is  the  celebrated  Ben- 
gel,  whose  interpretation  is  a  model  of  piety  and  accu- 
racy.:}: His  principle  of  interpretation  is  briefly  stated : 
"  It  is  the  especial  office  of  every  interpretation  to  ex- 
hibit adequately  the  force  and  significance  of  the  words 
which  the  text  contains,  so  as  to  express  everything 
which  the  author  intended,  and  to  introduce  nothing 
which  he  did  not  intend  "  (xiv.  Preface). 

The  principles  of  interpretation  of  the  Puritans  worked 
mightily  during  the  seventeenth  century  in  Great  Britain, 
and  produced  exegetical  works  that  ought  to  be  the 
pride  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  churches  in  all  time.  Thomas 
Cartwright,  Henry  Ainsworth,  John  Reynolds,  John 
Fox,  Nicholas  Byfield,  Paul  Bayne,  Hugh  Broughton, 
J.  Davenant,  Francis  Taylor,  William  Gouge,  John 
Lightfool,  Edward  Leigh,  Wm.  Attersol,  Thos.  Gataker, 
Joseph  Caryl,  Samuel  Clark,  John  Trapp,  William  Green- 
hill,  Francis  Roberts,  and  numerous  others  have  opened 
up  the  meaning  of  the  Word  of  God  for  all  generations. 
Among  the  last  of  the  Puritan  works  on  the  more  learned 


*  Manducatio  ad  lectionem,  S.S.  1693;  PraeUctiones  Hermeneut.,  1717. 
t  Institutiones  Hermemuticae^  1723,  8th  edit.,  Jenae,  1764,  ed.  Buddeus. 
X  Gnomon,  N.  T.,  Tflbingen,  1742,  English  edition  by  T.  Carlton  Lewis  and 
Marvin  R.  Vuicent,  Philadelphia,  1860-62. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  345 

side  was  the  Synopsis  Criticorum  of  Matthew  Poole  ;  but 
the  more  practical  side  of  interpretation  continued  to 
advance  until  it  attained  its  highest  mark  in  Matthew 
Henry.^  Other  practical  commentaries  have  been  of 
great  service  to  the  churches,  such  as  those  of  Ph.  Dod- 
dridge f  and  Thomas  Scott,:}:  but  the  Puritan  interpreta- 
tion soon  lost  its  strength  by  the  neglect  of  theological 
education.  Excluded  from  the  universities  by  their  re- 
ligious principles,  the  non-conformists  were  unable  to 
organize  educational  institutions  of  their  own  that  were 
at  all  adequate,  arid  hence  the  ministry  fell  back  upon 
dogmatizing  or  spiritualizing,  equally  perilous,  without 
an  exact  knowledge  of  the  Biblical  text.§ 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  Humanistic  spirit  had  main- 
tained itself  in  the  Prelatical  party  in  the  church  of  Eng- 
land and  found  expression  among  the  Arminians  of 
Holland.  The  chief  interpreter  of  the  seventeenth  cent- 
ury, who  revived  the  spirit  of  Erasmus,  was  Hugo  Gro- 
tius.  He  laid  stress  upon  historical  interpretation.!  He 
was  followed  by  the  Arminians  generally,  especially 
Clericus.  In  Great  Britain  Henry  Hammond  had  the 
same  spirit  and  methods.^^  Edward  Pocock**  also  seeks 
as  the  main  thing  "  to  settle  the  genuine  and  literal  mean- 


*  Expositions  of  ike  Old  and  New  Testaments,  London,  1704-6. 

t  Family  Expositor.     6  vols.  4to,  London,  1760-62. 

X  Family  Bible,  with  notes.     4  vols.  410,  1796. 

§  It  is.  the  merit  of  C.  H.  Spurgeon  that  he  has  recently  called  attention  to  the 
neglected  Puritan  commentators  and  expressed  his  great  obligations  to  them. 
See  his  Commenting  and  Commentaries,  N.  Y.,  1876,  and  also  Treasury  0/ 
David,  London,  6  vols. ,  1870,  seq. ,  which  contains  copious  extracts  from  the  Puri- 
tan commentaries. 

I  Annotationes  in  lib.  evang.,  Amst.,  1641 ;  Annot.  in  Vet.  Test.,  Paris,  1664. 

If  Paraphrase  and  Annotations  upon  all  the  books  0/  the  New  Testament, 
1653,  8vo,  3d  edition,  folio,  London,  1671.  In  a  Postscript  concerning  new 
light  or  divine  Ulaminatlon,  over  against  the  Quakers,  he  insisted  upKDn  the 
plain,  literal,  and  historical  sense. 

**  Com.  on  Micah,  1677,  Hosea,  1685,  Joel,  1691. 

15* 


346  *  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

ing  of  the  text."  Dan.  Whitby*  also  represents  this 
tendency ;  and  still  later  Bishop  Lowth  (see  p.  203)  and 
John  Taylor  of  Norwich.f     The  latter  says : 

"To  understand  the  sense  of  the  Spirit  in  the  New,  'tis  essentialVf 
necessary  that  we  understand  its  sense  in  the  Old  Testament.  But 
the  sense  of  the  Spirit  cannot  be  understood  unless  we  understand 
the  language  in  which  that  sense  is  conveyed.  P'or  which  purpose 
the  Hebrew  Concordance  is  the  best  Expositor.  For  there  you  have 
in  one  view  presented  all  the  places  of  the  sacred  code  where  any 
words  are  used  ;  and  by  carefully  collating  those  places,  may  judge 
what  sense  it  will,  or  will  not  bear,  which  being  once  settled  I'.iere 
lies  no  appeal  to  any  other  writing  in  the  world  :  because  there  are 
no  other  books  in  all  the  world  in  the  pure  original  Hebrew,  but  the 
books  of  the  Old  Testament.  A  judgment  therefore  duly  founded 
upon  them  must  be  absolutely  decisive."  J 

Taylor  acknowledges  his  great  indebtedness  to  the 
philosopher  Locke,§  and  shows  the  influence  of  that 
philosophy  in  his  exegesis.  Toward  the  close"  of  the 
century  Biblical  interpretation  more  and  more  declined 
in  Great  Britain,  and  we  must  go  to  the  continent  and 
especially  to  Germany  for  the  exegesis  as  well  as  the 
higher  and  lower  criticism  of  modern  times.| 

VIL   BIBLICAL  INTERPRETATION  OF  MODERN  TIMES. 

We  have  seen  in  our  studies  of  Biblical  literature  that 
there  was  a  great  revival  of  Biblical  studies,  especially  in 
Germany  toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
which  extended  to  all  departments.  For  Biblical  inter- 
pretation Ernesti  was  the  chief  of  the  new  era. 
Ernesti   was   essentially  a    philologist    rather    than    a 


*  Paraphrase  and  Commentary  on  the  New  Testament.  2  vols.,  1703-g,  folio, 
t  Hebrew  Concordance,  2  vols,  folio,  London,  1754. 

X  Preface  of  Hebrew  Concordance.     See  also  his  Paraphrase  with  notes  on 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  London,  1745,  pp.  114,  127,  146. 
§  In  /.  f.,  p.  149.  I  See  pp.  149,  206,  seq. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  347 

theologian,  and  he  applied  to  the  Bible  the  princi- 
ples which  he  had  employed  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
ancient  classics.  He  began  at  the  foundation  of  inter- 
jjretation,  grammatical  exegesis,  and  placed  it  in  such  a 
position  before  the  world  that  it  has  ever  since  main- 
tained its  fundamental  importance.  He  published  his 
principles  of  interpretation  in  1761.*  Ernestiwas  fol- 
lowed by  Zacharia,f  Morus,:}:  C.  D.  Beck,§  and  others. 
Moses  Stuart  translated  Ernesti  with  the  notes  of  Morus 
abridged. II 

About  the  same  time  as  Ernesti,  Semler  urged  the 
importance  of  historical  interpretation.^  Semler  was  an 
open-minded,  devout  scholar,  and  appropriated  freely 
the  material  wherever  he  could  find  it,  and  reproduced  it 
in  forms  fashioned  by  his  own  genius.  He  was  greatly 
influenced  by  foreign  interpreters  and  was  the  channel 
through  whom  the  historical  interpretation,  still  linger- 
ing in  Reformed  lands,  made  its  way  into  Lutheran  Ger- 
many. Among  those  who  influenced  Semler  may  be 
mentioned:  J.  A.  Turretine,  who  had  introduced  the 
Swiss  revolt  against  scholasticism,**  John  Taylor  of  Nor- 


*  Institutio  Interpret  is  N.  T.  1761,  3te  Auf.,  1774;  5te  Aufl.  ed.  Ammon, 
1809.  It  was  translated  into  English  and  edited  by  Bishop  Terrot  in  1809  from 
Amnion's  edition,  for  the  Biblical  Cabinet,  I.  and  IV.,  Edinburg. 

t  Einleit.  in  d.  Auslegekunst,  1778. 

X  Acroases.  acad.  super  Herm.,  N.  1 .  1797  and  1802,  ed.  by  Eichstadt. 

§  Monogram,  hermeneutices  librorum  N.  Foed.,  Lips.,  1803. 

I  Elementary  Principles  0/  Interpretation,  translated  from  the  Latin  of  J.  A. 
Ernesti,  accompanied  by  notes,  with  an  appendix  containing  extracts  from  Mo- 
ms, Beck,  Keil,  and  Henderson.  4th  edit.,  Andover,  1842.  The  earlier  edition 
was  republished  in  England  with  additional  observations  by  Dr.  Henderson, 
London,  1827,  which  were  used  in  Stuart's  fourth  edition. 

IT  Vorbereit.  zurtkeol.  Harm.,  1760-69;  Apparatus  ad  liheralem,  N.  T.  In- 
terp.,  1767. 

**  De  S,  S.  interp.  tractatus  bipartitus,  1728.  This  was  an  unauthorized  and 
defective  edition  and  it  was  repudiated  by  the  author.  A  better  edition  was  ed- 
ited by  Teller  in  1776. 


\ 


348  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

wich  and  Daniel  Whitby,*  and  L.  Meyer,  the  Spinozist.f 
Semler  was  followed  by  J.  G.  Gabler,  G.  L.  Baur,  K.  C. 
Bretschneider,  and  others. 

These  elements  of  interpretation  were  combined  in  the 
grammatico-historical  method  of  C.  A.  G.  Keil.:|:  Th^ 
grammatico-historical  method  was  introduced  into  the 
United  States  of  America  chiefly  by  Moses  Stuart  and 
his  school. 

The  defects  of  the  grammatico-historical  method  were 
discovered  and  attacks  were  made  upon  it  from  both 
sides.  Kant  and  his  school  urged  rational  and  moral  ex- 
egesis, to  which  the  historical  must  yield  as  of  vastly 
less  importance.  There  was  truth  in  this  rising  to  the 
moral  sense,  but  as  it  was  stated  and  used  by  the  Kant- 
ians  it  resulted  in  binding  the  Bible  in  the  fetters  of  a 
philosophical  system  that  was  far  more  oppressive  than 
the  theological  system  had  been.  Staudlein,§  Stern,| 
Stark,^  and  Kaiser,**  and  above  all  Germar,tt  rendered 
great  service  by  urging  that  the  interpreter  should  enter 
into  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of  the  Biblical  authors. 

On  the  other  side  the  little  band  of  Pietists  of  the 
older  Tubingen  school  urged  the  inadequacy  of  the 
grammatico-historical  method  and  insisted  upon  faith 
and  piety  in  the  interpreter.:}::}:  The  chief  of  these  were 
Storr,§§  Flatt  and  Steudel  of  Tubingen,  Knapp  of  Halle, 
and  Seller  of  Erlangen.|||| 


♦  See  p.  346,  also  Tholuck,  Vermischte  Schri/ten,  Hamburg:,  1839,  pp.  30,  40, 
t  Author  of  an  anonymous  treatise :  Philosophiae  Script  interpres.,  1666. 
X  Lehr.  d.  Herm.,  1810.  §  De  interp.  N.  T.,  1807. 

I  Ueberden  Begriff  und  obersten  Grundsatz  d.  hist,  interp.  d.  N.  T.,  1815. 
H  Beitr.  z.  Herm.,  1817.  **  System  Herm.,  1817. 

+t  Beitrag  zur  allgemein.  Hermeneutik,  Altona,  1828. 
\X  Reuss,  Gesch.  d.  H.  S.  N.  T.,  4te  Aufl.,  1854,  p.  582,  seg. 
'    §§  De  sensu  Aistorico,  1778. 

II  Bid.  Herm.,  1880,  edited  in  Holland  bj  Hering^a;  and  translated  from  the 
Holland  edition  and  edited  with  additions  by  Wm,  Wright,  Londoir,  1835. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  349 

This  conflict  of  principles  worked  more  and  more  con- 
fusion. If  the  older  exegesis  was  at  fault  in  neglecting 
the  human  element  and  the  variety  of  features  of  the 
Bible  on  the  human  side ;  the  newer  interpreters  of  the 
grammatico-historical  school  were  still  more  at  fault  in 
neglecting  the  divine  element  and  the  unity  of  the  Bible. 

A  healthful  method  of  interpretation  had  been  intro- 
duced from  England  in  the  translation  of  the  works  of 
Bishop  Lowth,  which  urged  literary  interpretation. 
Herder,  Eichhorn,  and  others  exerted  their  influence  in 
the  same  direction.  Schleiermacher  deserves  the  credit 
for  combining  all  that  had  thus  far  been  gained  into  a 
higher  unity,  by  his  organic  method  of  interpretation.* 

Schleiermacher  lays  down  his  principles  in  a  series  of 
theses  : 

"  In  the  application  (of  Hermeneutics)  to  the  New  Testament  the 
philological  view,  which  isolates  every  writing  of  ever^'  author,  stands 
over  against  the  dogmatic  view,  which  regards  the  N.  T.  as  the  work 
of  one  author.  Both  approach  one  another  when  one  considers  that, 
in  the  view  of  the  religious  contents,  the  identity  of  the  school  comes 
in,  and  in  the  view  of  the  details,  the  identity  of  language.  .  .  .  The 
philological  view  lags  behind  its  own  principle  when  it  rejects  the 
general  dependence  for  the  sake  of  the  individual  culture.  The  dog- 
matic view  transcends  its  needs  when  it  rejects  individual  culture  for 
the  sake  of  dependence,  and  so  destroys  itself.  The  only  question 
that  remains,  is,  which  of  the  two  is  to  be  placed  above  the  other ; 
and  this  must  be  decided  by  the  philological  view  itself  in  favor  of 
its  own  dependence.  When  the  philological  view  ignores  this  it  an- 
nihilates Christianity.  When  the  dogmatic  view  extends  the  canon 
of  the  analogy  of  faith  beyond  these  limits  it  annihilates  Scripture."  t 

Liicke,  of  Schleiermacher's  school,  well  states  the  prin- 
ciple when  he  says  that  we  must 


*  His  Hermeneutik  und  Kritik  is  a  posthumous  work  by  his  pupil,  F.  Lucke, 
published  Berlin,  1838,  but  the  influence  of  his  method  was  felt  at  an  earlier  date, 
and  expressed  by  his  disciples. 

t  In  /.  <r.,  pp.  79-Si. 


350  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

"  so  construct  the  general  principles  of  Hermeneutics  as  that  the 
proper  theological  element  may  be  united  with  them  in  a  really  or- 
ganic manner,  and  likewise  so  fashion  and  carry  on  the  theo- 
logical element  that  the  general  principles  of  interpretation  may 
maintain  their  full  value."  * 

He  also  insisted  upon  love  for  the  Word  of  God,  as 
the  indispensable  requisite  for  the  interpreter.f 

The  vast  importance  of  this  organic  method  is  seen 
in  the  exegetical  works  of  De  Wette,  Neander,  Klausen, 
Bleek,  Lutz,  Meyer,  and  indeed  the  chief  interpreters  of 
modern  Germany. 

The  greatest  defect  of  interpretation  at  this  time  was  in 
the  lack  of  apprehension  of  the  true  relation  of  the  New 
Testament  to  the  Old  Testament.  The  Old  Testament 
was  neglected  by  Schleiermacher  and  many  of  his  school. 
It  was  necessary  for  the  discipline  of  Biblical  theology  to 
be  developed  ere  this  defect  could  be  overcome.  The 
unfolding  of  the  discipline  of  Biblical  theology  in  the 
school  of  Neander  has  established  the  organic  unity  of 
the  New  Testament  in  the  combination  of  a  number  of 
historical  types ;  the  organic  unity  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment has  also  been  especially  urged  by  Oehler  in  the  spirit 
of  Neander,  together  with  some  of  the  features  of  the 
older  Tubingen  school.  Ttie  organic  unity  of  the  whole 
Bible  has  been  especially  insisted  upon  by  Hofmann  of 
Erlangen,  Delitzsch,  and  others  of  their  school.  This  is 
a  further  unfolding  of  the  organic  principle  of  Schleier- 
macher, and  the  revival  in  another  form  of  the  Puritan 
principle  wrapt  up  in  the  covenant  theology,  and  which 
has  worked  through  the  schools  of  Cocceius  and  the 
Pietists,  to  attach  itself  to  the  scientific,  principles  of 


*  Studien  und  JCrit.,  1830,  p.  421 ;  see  also  his  Grundriss  d.  JV.  T.  fferm., 
1S17. 
t  See  Klausen  in  /.  f.,  p.  311 ;  Immer  in  /.  c,  p.  66  ;  Reuss  in  /.  c,  p.  605, 


\ 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  35^ 

exegesis  that  have  thus  far  been  developed.  The  school 
of  Hofmann  claim  this  principle  which  they  call  the 
heilsgescJiichtliche*  as  the  highest  attainment  of  Her- 
meneutics.  This  insisting  above  all  upon  interpreting 
Scripture  as  one  divine  book  giving  the  history  of  re- 
demption, is  the  restatement  of  the  Puritan  principle  of 
the  gradual  revelation  of  the  covenants  of  grace.  The 
variety  of  the  Bible  is  better  understood  in  relation  to  its 
unity  ;  and  the  genesis  of  its  revelation  of  redemption 
is  made  more  prominent. 

Francis  Roberts  already  states  it  admirably: 

"  Still  remember  how  Jesus  Christ  is  revealed  in  Scripture,  grad- 
ually in   promises  and  covenants,  till  the  noon-day  of  the  gospel 

shined  most  clearly For  (i)  God  is  a  God  of  order  ;  and  He 

makes  known  His  gracious  contrivances  orderly.  (2)  Christ,  and 
salvation  by  Him  are  treasures  too  high  and  precious  to  be  disclosed 
all  at  once  to  the  church.  (3)  The  state  of  the  church  is  various  ; 
she  hath  her  infancy,  her  youth,  and  all  the  degrees  of  her  minority, 
as  also  her  riper  age  ;  and  therefore  God  revealed  Christ,  not  ac- 
cording to  his  own  ability  of  revealing,  but  according  to  the  churches 
capacity  of  receiving.  (4)  This  gradual  revealing  of  Christ  suits 
well  with  our  condition  in  this  world,  which  is  not  perfect,  but  grow- 
ing into  perfection,  fully  attainable  in  heaven  only.  Now  this  grad- 
ual unveiling  of  the  covenant  and  promises  in  Christ,  is  to  be  much 
considered  throughout  the  "whole  Scripture^  that  we  may  see  the 
wisdom  of  God's  dispensations,  the  imperfections  of  the  churches 
condition  here,  especially  in  her  minority ;  and  the  usefulness  of 
comparing  the  more  dark  and  imperfect  with  the  more  clear  and 
complete  manifestation  of  the  mysteries  of  God's  grace  in  Christ  " 
(in  /.  c,  p.  10). 

VIII.    METHOD   OF   BIBLICAL  INTERPRETATION. 

The  Bible  is  composed  of  a  body  of  literature.  As 
such  it  is  a  part  of  the  literature  of  the  world,  having 
features  in  common  with  all  other  literatures,  and  also 

♦  See  Volck,  in  Zockler,  Handb.,  p.  661,  seq. ;  Hofmann,  Bib.  Ilerm,,  NonL, 
1880. 


352  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

features  peculiar  to  itself.  From  these  circumstances 
arise  the  fundamental  principles  of  interpretation.  Bib- 
lical interpretation  is  a  section  of  general  interpretation. 
Here  all  students  of  the  Bible  are  on  common  ground. 
Rationalistic,  evang^elical,  scholastical,  and  mystical,  they 
should  all  alike  begin  here.  This  is  the  broad  base  on 
which  the  pyramid  of  exegesis  is  to  rise  to  its  apex.  It 
is  the  merit  of  Schleiermacher  that  he  clearly  and  defi- 
nitely established  this  fundamental  relation.  From  gen- 
eral interpretation  arises : 

(i)  Grammatical  interpretation.  The  Bible  is  written 
in  human  languages.  These  languages  contain  the  Bible 
which  is  to  be  studied.  There  is  no  other  way  than  to 
master  them,  and  thoroughly  understand  their  grammar.* 

"  Only  the  philologist  can  be  an  interpreter.  It  is  true  that  the 
office  of  interpretation  requires  more  than  mere  philology,  or  an  ac- 
quaintance with  language  ;  but  all  those  other  qualifications  that  may 
belong  to  it  are  useless  without  this  acquaintance,  whilst  on  the  con- 
trary, in  very  many  cases  nothing  more  than  this  is  necessary  for 
correct  interpretation."  t 

Others  than  philologists  may  become  interpreters  of 
Scripture  by  depending  upon  the  labors  of  philologists 
in  the  translations  and  expositions  that  they  produce — 
but  without  these  \he  originals  of  Scripture  would  be  as 
inaccessible  as  the  Hamathite  inscriptions  which  still 
defy  the  efforts  of  scholars  to  decipher  them. 

The  great  defect  of  ancient  and  mediaeval  interpreta- 
tion was  in  the  neglect  of  the  grammar  of  the  Bible,  and 
in  the  dependence  upon  the  LXX  and  Vulgate  versions. 
Hence  a  multitude  of  errors  that  have  come  into  the 
traditional  exegesis  through  the  fathers  and  schoolmen, 


*  See  Chap.  III. 

t  Planck,  Introduction  to  Sacred  Philology  and  Interpretation,  trans,  and 
edited  by  S.  H.  Turner,  Edin.,  1834,  pp.  140-141. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  353 

which  have  become  rooted  in  the  history  of  doctrine 
and  the  customs  of  the  church  as  evil  weeds  so  that  it  has 
taken  generations  of  grammatical  study  to  eradicate  them. 
It  is  the  merit  of  Ernesti  in  modern  times  that  he  so 
insisted  upon  grammatical  exegesis  that  he  induced 
exegetes  of  all  classes  to  begin  their  work  here  at  the 
foundation.  Grammatical  exegesis  is,  however,  depend- 
ent upon  the  progress  of  linguistic  studies.  There  has* 
been  great  progress  in  the  knowledge  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment Greek :  in  the  study  of  the  dialects,  in  the  com- 
parison of  the  Greek  with  its  cognates  of  the  Indo-Ger- 
manic  family  of  languages,  in  the  science  of  etymology 
of  words,  and  still  more  in  the  history  of  the  use  of 
words  in  Greek  literature.  In  the  study  of  the  Hebrew 
language,  there  has  been  still  greater  progress.  When 
one  traces  the  history  of  its  study  in  modern  times,  and 
rises  from  Levita  and  Reuchlin,  through  Buxtorf  and 
Castel,  Schultens  and  John  Taylor,  to  Gesenius  and 
Ewald,  one  feels  that  he  is  climbing  to  greater  and 
greater  heights.  The  older  interpreters  who  knew 
nothing  of  comparative  Shemitic  philology,  who  did  not 
understand  the  position  of  the  Hebrew  language  in  the 
development  of  the  Shemitic  family,  who  were  ignorant 
of  its  rich  and  varied  syntax,  who  relied  on  traditional 
meanings  of  words,  and  had  not  learned  their  etymolo- 
gies and  their  historic  growth — lived  almost  in  another 
world.  The  modern  Hebrew  scholars  are  working  in 
far  more  extended  relations,  and  upon  vastly  deeper 
principles,  and  we  should  not  be  surprised  at  new  and 
almost  revolutionary  results. 

(2)  The  second  stage  of  our  pyramid  of  exegesis  is 
logical  and  rhetorical  interpretation.  Here  also  there  are 
general  features  in  common  with  other  literatures,  and 
also  features  peculiar  to  Biblical  literature. 


354:  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

{a)  The  laws  of  thought  are  derived  from  the  human 
mind  itself.  These  enable  us  to  determine  the  value  of 
all  thought,  to  discriminate  the  true,  close,  exact  reason- 
ing from  the  inexact  and  fallacious.  It  is  assumed  by 
some  that  the  Bible  is  divine  in  such  a  sense  that  it  cor- 
responds with  these  laws  of  thought  exactly  and  is  fault- 
less in  its  logic.     If  this  were  so,  it  is  astonishing  that 

'  we  find  so  little  that  is  technical,  or  in  the  form  of  logical 
propositions,  in  the  Bitjle.  Here  was  the  fault  of  the 
Jewish  Halacha,  and  the  mediaeval  dialectic,  and  the 
modern  scholastic  use  of  proof  texts.  The  Bible  has 
been  interpreted  by  the  formulas  of  Aristotle  in  the 
middle  age,  and  then  by  the  logical  methods  of  the  dif- 
ferent philosophies  in  the  modern  age.  These  scholas- 
tic and  philosophical  logicians  overlook  the  fact  that 
pure  logic  is  one  thing,  applied  logic  another,  and  the 
history  of  its  application  a  third.  There  are  differ- 
ences in  logic  as  in  other  things.  Human  logic  is  far 
from  infallible.  Our  modern  logic  has  not  remained  in 
the  state  of   innocence,    nor   has  it*  reached   the   state 

.  of  perfection.  Certainly  there  are  few  if  any  dogmatic 
divines  and  philosophers  who  do  not  violate  its  principles 
and  neglect  its  methods  as  stated  in  our  logical  manuals. 
Every  race  has  indeed  its  own  methods  of  reasoning. 
The  German  and  the  French  minds  move  in  somewhat 
different  grooves.  Still  more  is  this  the  case  when  we 
consider  the  Hebrew  and  the  Greek  and  the  Anglo-Saxon. 
The  Biblical  writers  wrote  for  the  men  of  their  own  time 
and  used  the  forms  of  thought  of  the  men  of  their  time. 
It  is  not  sufficient,  therefore,  to  apply  logical  analysis  to 
the  text  of  the  Scripture,  as  is  so  often  done.* .  The 
proper  use  of  logical  interpretation  is   to  seek  for  the 


*  Lange,  Hermeruutik^  p.  43. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.       355 

method  of  reasoning  of  the  Biblical  author;  his  plan, 
his  scope,  his  course  of  argument,  and  the  relation  of  his 
methods  to  those  of  his  cotemporaries. 

"  The  Scripture  doth  not  explaine  the  will  of  God  by  universal 
and  scientific  rules,  but  by  narrations,  examples,  precepts,  ex- 
hortations, admonitions,  and  promises ;  because  that  manner 
doth  make  most  for  the  common  use  of  all  kinde  of  men,  and 
also  most  to  affect  the  will,  and  stirre  up  godly  motions,  which 
is  the  chief  scope  of  divinity."  * 

"  Language  is  not  the  invention  of  metaphysicians,  or  convo- 
cations of  the  wise  and  learned.  It  is  the  common  blessing  of 
mankind,  framed  for  their  mutual  advantage  in  their  intercourse 
with  each  other.  Its  laws  therefore  are  popular,  not  philosophi- 
cal, being  founded  on  the  general  laws  of  thought  which  govern 
the  whole  mass  in  the  community.  .  .  .  Scarcely  will  we  hear  in  a 
long  and  serious  conversation  between  the  best  speakers,  a  sen- 
tence which  does  not  need  some  modification  or  limitation  in 
order  that  we  may  not  attribute  to  it  more  or  less  than  was  in- 
tended. Nor  is  the  operation  at  all  difficult.  We  make  the  cor- 
rection instantly,  with  so  little  cost  of  thought  that  we  would  be 
tempted  to  call  it  instinct  did  we  not  know  that  many  of  our  per- 
ceptions which  seem  intuitive  are  the  results  of  habit  and  educa- 
tion. It  would  be  an  exceedingly  strange  thing,  if  the  Bible,  the 
most  popular  of  all  books,  composed  by  men,  for  the  most  part 
taken  from  the  multitude,  addressed  to  all,  and  on  subjects  in- 
teresting to  all,  were  found  written  in  language  to  be  interpreted 
on  different  principles.  But,  in  point  of  fact,  it  is  not.  Its  style 
is  eminently,  and  to  a  remarkable  degree,  that  which  we  would 
expect  to  find  in  a  volume  designed  by  its  gracious  Author  to  be 
the  people's  book — abounding  in  all  those  kinds  of  inaccuracy 
which  are  sprinkled  through  ordinary  discourse  ;  hyperboles,  an- 
alogies, and  loose  catachrestical  expressions,  whose  meaning  no 
one  mistakes,  though  their  deviation  from  plumb,  occasionally 
makes  the  small  critic  sad."t 

Again,  it  is  an  abuse  of  logical  interpretation  to  regard 


*  Ames,  Marrow  of  Sacred  Divinity,  London,  1643. 

t  McClelland,  Manual  of  Sacred  Interpretation,  pp.  61-63,  N.  Y.  1842. 


350  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

the  Biblical  writers  as  all  alike  logical.  .Those  who  take 
the  logical  methods  of  the  apostle  Paul  \as  the  key  to  the 
New  Testament,  and  interpret,  by  the  apostle  to  the  Gen- 
tiles, the  practical  Peter  and  James  and  the  mystic  John 
and  above  all  our  blessed  Lord  Jesus  himself,  the  Son  of 
man,  embracing  in  himself  all  the  types  of  humanity  for 
the  redemption  of  all — do  violence  to  these  other  writers, 
rend  the  seamless  robe  of  the  gospel,  and  do  not  aid  the 
proper  understanding  of  Paul  himself.  Those  who 
should  find  the  key  of  the  Old  Testament  in  the  wis- 
dom literature,  would  commit  a  most  unpardonable 
blunder.  How  much  greater  is  the  sin  of  those  who 
first  insist  upon  interpreting  the  epistles  of  Paul  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  principles  of  analysis  of  modern  logic, 
and  then  of  interpreting  all  the  rest  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment by  this  interpretation  of  Paul,  and  then  the  whole 
body  of  the  Hebrew  Old  Testament  by  this  interpreta- 
tion of  the  New  Testament.  In  view  of  such  a  method, 
one  might  inquire,  why  take  all  this  trouble  to  impose 
meanings  upon  such  a  vast  body  of  ancient  literature? 
It  would  be  far  easier  and  more  honest  to  construct  the 
dogmatic  system  by  logical  principles,  and  leave  the  Bible 
to  itself.  We  are  not  surprised  that  when  and  where 
such  methods  have  prevailed.  Biblical  studies  have  been 
neglected  and  despised. 

{b)  Rhetorical  interpretation  is  closely  connected  with 
logical.  There  are  common  features  of  rhetoric  that  be- 
long to  all  discourse,  and  there  are  special  features  which 
are  peculiar  to  the  Biblical  literature.  The  Bible  has 
been  tested  and  interpreted  too  often,  after  Greek,  Ger- 
man, French,  and  English  models  (see  Chap.  viii.).  We 
have  to  discriminate  in  the  Bible  the  more  logical  parts 
from  the  more  rhetorical  parts.  The  fault  of  the  Halacha 
and  scholastic  methods  was  in  their  overlooking  the  rhe- 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  357 

torical  features  of  the  Bible.  The  fault  of  the  Haggada 
and  allegorical  methods  was  in  overlooking  the  logical. 
In  rhetorical  exegesis  it  is  essential  to  discriminate  poetry 
from  prose,  the  different  kinds  of  poetry  and  prose  from 
each  other,  the  style  of  each  author,  as  well  as  the  liter- 
ary peculiarities  of  the  people  and  race  which  produced 
the  Bible.  Here  is  a  neglected  field  of  study  which  prom- 
ises great  rewards  to  those  who  will  pursue  it,*  and  it 
will  prove  of  especial  richness  to  the  homilist  and  cate- 
chist. 

(3)  Thus  far  all  parties  work  in  common.  As  we  rise 
to  the  higher  stage  of  historical  interpretation  there  arise 
differences  between  the  rationalistic  and  other  interpre- 
ters, owing  to  certain  presuppositions  with  which  they 
approach  the  Bible.  There  are  different  conceptions  of 
history.  The  evangelical  interpreters  recognize  the  super- 
natural element  as  the  determining  factor ;  the  rational- 
istic interpreters  endeavor  to  explain  everything  by 
purely  natural  laws.  Among  believers  in  the  supernatural 
there  is  also  a  difference,  in  that  some  are  ever  resorting 
to  the  supernatural  to  explain  the  history,  while  other 
more  judicious  interpreters  explain  by  the  natural  element 
until  they  are  Compelled  by  overpowering  evidence  to  re- 
sort to  the  supernatural.  Semlerhas  the  credit  in  modern 
times  of  laying  great  stress  on  the  historic  interpretation. 
In  historical  exegesis  we  have  to  recognize  that  the  Biblical 
writers  were  men  of  their  times  and  yet  men  above  their 
times.  They  were  influenced  by  inspiration  to  introduce 
new  divine  revelations,  and  to  revive  old  truths  and  set 
them  in  new  lights  ;  they  were  reformers,  and  so  came 
into  conflict  with  the  conservatives  of  their  time.  Many 
errors  spring  up  here.     The  Pharisees  interpreted  the 


*  See  page  228  seq. 


358  •  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Old  Testament  by  tradition.  The  scholastics  pursue 
the  same  course  with  reference  to  the  New  Testament^ 
The  rationalists  interpret  Scripture  altogether  by  history 
and  natural  forces.  Here  the  scholastic  and  rationalistic 
interpreters  of  our  times  lock  horns.  They  are  both 
alike  in  error.  Tradition  is  the  bastard  of  history  and 
should  be  resorted  to  only  when  we  have  no  history, 
and  then  with  caution  and  suspicion  as  to  its  origin. 
History  is  to  help,  not  rule — for  in  the  history  of  re- 
demption the  supernatural  force  shapes  and  controls 
history.  The  true  method  is  to  rise  from  the  natural  to 
the  supernatural.  History  has  been  impregnated  with 
the  supernatural.  We  must  not  expect  to  find  the  su- 
pernatural everywhere  on  the  surface.  The  supernat- 
ural comes  into  play  only  when  the  natural  is  incapable 
of  accomplishing  the  divine  purpose ;  so  it  is  to  be 
sought  when  it  alone  is  capable  of  affording  explanation 
of  the  phenomena.  Then  the  supernatural  displays  it- 
self with  convincing,  assuring  force. 

Lutz  has  some  admirable  remarks  here  :  * 

"  The  historico-grammatical  method  of  interpretation  has  brought 
out  truths  which  cannot  be  valued  too  highly.  No  book  needs  more 
than  the  Holy  Scriptures  to  be  understood  inaccordance  with  the  times 

in  which  they  were  first  read But  it  is  just  as  true  that  such 

an  exposition  in  its  one-sidedness  limiting  itself  to  grammar  and 
history,  entirely  loses  sight  of  the  peculiar  features  of  the  Bible,  and 
would  bring  about  a  complete  separation  between  church  and  exe- 
gesis. Thereby  the  church  would  be  deprived  of  its  light,  and  exe- 
gesis would  dig  its  own  grave." 

(4)  In  rising  to  comparative  interpretation  we  have  to  dis- 
tinguish still  further  the  attitude  of  interpreters  toward 
the  Bible.  Supematuralists  come  to  the  Bible  as  a  sacred 
canon,  an  organic  whole.     Rationalists  come  to  the  Bible 


*  Bib.  Herm.,  Pforzheim,  1861.    2te  Ausg.,  p.  168. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  359 

as  a  collection  of  merely  human  writings.  It  is  the  merit 
of  the  Puritans,  of  the  Federalists  of  Holland,  and  in  re- 
cent times  of  the  schools  of  Schleiermacher  and  Hofmann, 
that  they  urged  the  organic  unity  of  Scripture.  It  is 
presumed  that  writers  are  consistent,  and  that  writers 
of  the  same  school  are  in  substantial  accord.  This  is 
a  general  presumption  derived  from  the  study  of  all 
literature.  But  we  must  go  further  and  as  supernatu- 
ralists  insist  that  as  all  the  writers  of  the  Bible  are  of 
the  school  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  conspired  to  give  us 
the  complete  organism  of  the  canon,  there  is  a  unity  and 
concord  that  extends  throughout  the  Bible.  There  is 
error  here  on  the  right  and  the  left.  The  rationalists 
regard  the  Bible  as  a  bundle  of  miscellaneous  and  hete- 
rogeneous writings.  The  scholastics  regard  them  as  a 
homogeneous  mass.     As  Lange  says  : 

"  We  should  read  the  Bible  as  a  human  book,  but  not  as  a  heathen 
book  ;  as  a  divino-human  book  according  to  the  fact  that  there  is  a 
distinction  between  elect  men  of  God  who  walk  on  the  heights  of 
humanity  and  the  populace  in  the  low  plains  of  humanity ;  as  the 
documents  of  revelation,  which  participate  throughout  in  the  revela- 
tion, the  unicum  among  all  religious  writings."  * 

The  rationalists  sink  the  unity  in  the  variety ;  the 
scholastics  destroy  the  variety  for  the  sake  of  the  unity. 
The  true  evangelical  position  is,  that  the  Bible  is  a  vast 
organism  in  which  the  unity  springs  from  an  amazing 
variety.  The  unity  is  not  that  of  a  mass  of  rocks  or  a 
pool  of  water.  It  is  the  unity  that  one  finds  in  the  best 
works  of  Go3.  It  is  the  unity  of  the  ocean  where  every 
wave  has  its  individuality  of  life  and  movement.  It  is 
the  unity  of  the  continent,  in  which  mountains  and 
rivers,  valleys  and  uplands,  flowers  and  trees,  birds  and 
insects,  animal  and  human  life  combine  to  distinguish  it 

*  Grindriss  d.  M.  Hcrmeneutik^  Heidelberg,  1878,  p.  68. 


360  BIBUCAL  STUDY. 

as  a  magnificent  whole  from  other  continents.  It  is  the 
unity  of  the  heaven,  where  star  differs  from  star  in  form, 
color,  order,  movement,  size,  and  importance,  but  all  de- 
clare the  glory  of  God. 

(5)  As  we  rise  to  the  fifth  stage  of  exegesis,  the  use  of 
the  literature  of  interpretatiofi,  we  part  company  with  the 
Roman  Catholic  and  all  churchly  interpreters.  The 
Bible  is  the  Canon  of  the  Christian  Church.  What  re- 
lation does  it  sustain  to  the  Church  ?  We  are  separated 
from  the  originals  by  ages.  Multitudes  of  students  have 
studied  the  Bible,  and  their  labor  has  not  been  in  vain. 
As  the  prince  of  modern  preachers  says : 

"  In  order  to  be  able  to  expound  the  Scriptures,  and  as  an  aid  to 
your  pulpit  studies,  you  will  need  to  be  familiar  with  the  commenta- 
tors :  a  glorious  army,  let  me  tell  you,  whose  acquaintance  will  be 
your  delight  and  profit.  Of  course,  you  are  not  such  wiseacres  as  to 
think  or  say  that  you  can  expound  Scripture  without  assistance  from 
the  works  of  divines  and  learned  men,  who  have  labored  before  you 

in  the  field  of  exposition It  seems  odd,  that  certain  men  who 

talk  so  much  of  what  the  Holy  Spirit  reveals  to  themselves,  should 
think  so  little  of  what  he  has  revealed  to  others."  * 

But  the  question  presses  itself  upon  the  exegete,  how 
far  he  is  to  go  in  allowing  himself  to  be  influenced  by  the 
history  of  exegesis.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  makes 
the  church  itself,  the  fathers,  and  councils,  the  expositors 
of  Scripture,  to  which  all  exposition  is  to  be  conformed. 
We  have  learned  from  the  history  of  exegesis  how  false 
this  position  is.f  We  have  found  the  best  interpreters 
using  false  methods,  and  establishing  false  principles.  The 
literature  of  exegesis  is  an  invaluable  help,  but  this  help 
is  as  much  negative  as  positive.  It  exhibits  a  vast  mul- 
titude of  errors  that  have  been  exposed,  and  so  prevents 
us  from  stumbling  into  them.    It  shows  us  a  great  num- 


•Spurgeon,  Commenting  and  Commentaries^  p.  11.         t  See  page  328  seq. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  361 

ber  of  positions  so  plainly  established  and  fortified,  that 
it  were  folly  to  question  them.  But  at  the  same  time,  it 
presents  a  number  of  positions  so  weakly  supported, 
that  they  excite  suspicion  of  their  validity ;  and  others, 
where  contests  have  not  resulted  in  settlement.  The 
literature  of  exegesis  enables  us  to  understand  the  real 
state  of  the  questions  that  have  to  be  determined  by  the 
interpreter  of  the  Scriptures.  It  prevents  us  from  wast- 
ing our  energies  in  doing  what  others  have  done  before 
us,  or  in  working  in  barren  or  unprofitable  fields ;  and  it 
directs  us  to  the  fruitful  soil  of  the  Bible,  the  mines  to 
be  worked,  and  'the  problems  to  be  solved.  It  were 
suicidal  for  interpretation  to  limit  itself  to  the  exegesis 
of  the  fathers,  the  schoolmen,  or  even  the  reformers 
and  theologians  of  the  Protestant  churches.  It  would 
result  in  forsaking  the  interpretation  of  the  Script- 
ures, and  devoting  ourselves  to  ^he  interpretation  of  the 
interpreters. 

Francis  Roberts  happily  says  : 

"  There  must  be  constant  caution  that  all  tongues,  arts,  histories, 
translations,  and  comments  be  duly  ranked  in  their  proper  place,  in 
a  subserviency  under,  not  a  regency  or  predominancy  over  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  which  are  to  conlroule  them  all.  For  when  Hagar  shall 
once  usuq)  over  her  mistress,  it's  high  time  to  cast  her  out  of  doors 
till  she  submit  herself."  * 

(6)  In  rising  a  stage  higher  in  our  pyramid  to  doctrinal 
interpretation,  we  must  part  company  with  the  Protestant 
scholastics,  for  which  we  have  been  prepared,  as  were 
Abraham  and  Lot  by  previous  minor  contentions.  The 
Bible  is  a  divine  revelation.  It  presents  us  with  "what 
man  is  to  believe  concerning  God,  and  what  duty  God 
requires  of  man."f     The  Bible  is  the  rule  of  faith.     It 


*  In  /.  <:.,  p.  5".  t  West.  Shorter  Cat.,  223. 

16 


362  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

is  to  be  interpreted  in  accordance  with  the  analogy  of 
faith.  This  analogy  is  the  substance  of  Scripture  doc- 
trine found  in  the  plainest  passages  of  Scripture.  This 
was  the  view  of  the  reformers.  But  the  scholastics  sub- 
stituted for  this  internal  rule  of  faith  an  external  rule  of 
faith — first  in  the  apostles'  creed,  then  in  the  symbols  of 
the  churches,  and  finally  in  the  Reformed  or  Lutheran 
or  Anglican  systems  of  doctrine.  And  thus  the  Script- 
ures became  the  slaves  of  dogmatic  a  priori  systems.  The 
evangelical  interpreter  returns  to  the  position  of  the  re- 
formers. He  has  learned  in  the  history  of  doctrine  that 
the  early  church  depended  too  much  upon  the  apostle 
John,  the  mediaeval  church  upon  Peter  and  James,  the 
modern  church  on  the  apostle  Paul.  He  finds  a  system 
of  theology  in  the  Bible  itself  which  he  has  learned  as  a 
Biblical  Theology  to  b^  carefully  distinguished  from 
Dogmatic  Theology.  He  has  found  that  Peter  and  John 
and  James  and  Paul  were  all  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  have  in  Him  theii:^' centre  and  life.  The  evangelical 
interpreter  has  learned  that  the  Old  Testament  is  an  or- 
ganic whole,  in  which  priests  and  prophets,  sages  and 
poets  find  their  centre  and  life  in  the  theophanies  of  Je- 
hovah. He  has  learned  that  Jehovah  and  Jesus  are  one, 
and  that  in  the  Messiah  of  prophecy  and  history  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  become  an 
organic  whole.  With  this  bringing  forth  of  the  internal 
substance  of  the  Scriptures  in  its  unity  and  variety  theo- 
logical exposition  finds  its  satisfaction  and  delight,  and 
the  analogy  of  faith  is  harmonized  with  the  principles 
of  interpretation  which  have  indeed  prepared  the  way 
for  its  advance  and  achievements.*  Francis  Roberts 
saw  this  and  stated  it  in  the  17th  century.f 


•  See  Chap.  XI.  t  In  /.  f.,  p.  10. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  353 

"  Now  that  we  may  more  successfully  and  clearly  understand 
Scripture  by  Scripture,  these  ensueing  particulars  are  to  be  observed  : 
(i)  That  Jesus  Christ  our  mediator  and  the  salvation  of  sinners  by 
Him  is  the  very  substance,  marrow,  soul  and  scope  of  the  whole 
Scriptures.  What  are  the  whole  Scriptures,  but  as  it  were  the  spir- 
itual swadling  cloathes  of  the  Holy  child  Jesus,  (i)  Christ  is  the 
truth  and  substance  of  all  the  types  and  shadows.  (2)  Christ  is  the 
matter  and  substance  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace  under  all  administra- 
tions thereof ;  under  the  Old  Testament  Christ  is  veyled,  under  the 
New  Covenant  revealed.  (3)  Christ  is  the  centre  and  meeting- 
place  of  all  the  promises,  for  in  him  all  the  promises  of  God  are  yea, 
and  they  are  Amen.  (4)  Christ  is  the  thing  signified,  sealed,  and 
exhibited  in  all  the  sacraments  of  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
whether  ordinary  or  extraordinary.  (5)  Scripture  genealogies  are  to 
lead  us  on  to  the  true  line  of  Christ.  (6)  Scripture  chronologies  are 
to  discover  to  us  the  times  and  seasons  of  Christ.  (7)  Scripture  laws 
are  our  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  to  Christ ;  the  moral  by  correcting, 
the  ceremonial  by  directing.  And  (8)  Scripture  gospel  is  Christ's 
light,  whereby  we  know  him ;  Christ'^  voice,  whereby  we  hear  and 
follow  him  ;  Christ's  cords  of  love,  whereby  we  are  drawn  into  sweet 
union  and  communion  with  him;  yea  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  unto  all  them  that  believe  in  Christ  Jesus.  Keep  therefore 
still  Jesus  Christ  in  your  eye,  in  the  perusal  of  the  Scripture,  as  the 
end,  scope,  and  substance  thereof.  For  as  the  sun  gives  light  to  all 
the  heavenly  bodies,  so  Jesus  Christ  the  sun  of  righteousness  g^ves 
light  to  all  the  Holy  Scriptures." 

(7)  In  rising  now  to  the  highest  stage  of  interpreta- 
tion— practical  interpretation — we  part  company  with 
the  mystics  as  well  as  the  scholastics,  and  return  to  the 
position  of  the  Puritans  and  Westminster  divines.  The 
Bible  is  a  book  of  life — ^a  people's  book — a  book  of  con- 
duct. It  came  from  the  living  God.  It  tends  to  the 
living  God.  Here  is  the  apex  of  the  pyramid  of  inter- 
pretation. He  who  has  not  reached  this  stage  has 
stopped  on  the  way  and  will  not  understand  the 
Bible.  The  Bible  brings  the  interpreter  to  God.  We 
can  understand  the  Bible  only  by  mastering  it.     We 


264:  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

need  the  master  key.  No  one  but  the  Master  himself 
can  give  it  to  us.  It  is  necessary  to  know  God  and  His 
Christ  in  order  to  know  the  Bible.  The  Scriptures  can- 
not be  understood  from  the  outside  by  grammar,,  logic, 
rhetoric,  and  history  alone.  The  Bible  cannot  be  under- 
stood when  involved  in  the  labyrinth  of  its  doctrines. 
The  Bible  is  to  be  understood  from  its  centre — its  heart 
— its  Christ.  Jesus  Christ  does  not  reveal  Himself  ordi- 
narily aside  from  the  Bible,  by  new  revelations  outside 
of  it  casting  new  light  upon  it  from  the  exterior,  as  the 
mystics  suppose.  But  the  Messiah  is  the  light  centre 
of  the  Scriptures  themselves.  He  is  enthroned  in  them 
as  His  Holy  of  Holies,  as  was  Jehovah  in  the  ancient 
temple.  Through  the  avenues  of  the  Scriptures  we  go 
to  6nd  Christ — in  their  centre  we  find  our  Saviour.  It 
is  this  personal  relation  of  the  author  of  the  entire 
Scripture  to  the  interpreter  that  enables  him  truly  to 
understand  the  divine  .things  of  the  Scripture.  Jesus 
Christ  knew  the  Old  Testament  and  interpreted  it  as 
one  who  knew  the  mind  of  God.*  He  needed  no  helps 
to  climb  the  pyramid  of  interpretation.  He  was  born 
and  ever  lived  at  the  summit.  The  apostles  interpreted 
the  Scriptures  from  the  mind  of  Christ,  read  by  the 
Spirit  He  had  given  them.f  We  have  no  such  supernat- 
ural help.  We  cannot  use  their  a  priori  methods,  but 
we  may  climb  toward  them.  We  have  all  the  enthusi- 
asm of  the  quest — all  the  joy  of  discovery. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  us  to  complete  our  studies  of 
the  lower  stages  of  exegesis  ere  we  climb  Jiigher.  The 
exegete  is  not  building  the  pyramid.  He  is  climbing  it. 
Every  passage  tends  toward  the  summit.  Some  inter- 
preters  remain    forever  in   the  lowest  stages.     Others 

*  See  p.  312.  t  See  p.  319. 


THE  INTERPRETATION  OF  SCRIPTURE.  3^5 

spring  hastily  to  the  higher  stages  and  fall  back  crippled 
and  are  flung  down  to  the  lowest.  The  patient,  faithful, 
honest  exegete  climbs  steadily  to  the  summit. 

Our  Puritan  fathers  understood  this  principle.  The 
doctrine  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  supreme  interpreter 
of  Scripture  is  the  highest  attainment  of  interpretation. 
The  greatest  leaders  of  the  church  in  all  ages  have  ac.ted 
on  this  principle,  however  defective  their  apprehension 
of  it  may  have  been,  and  however  little  they  may  have 
consciously  used  it  in  Scripture  interpretation.  It  was 
this  consciousness  of  knowing  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  and 
having  the  truth  of  God  that  made  them  invincible.  It 
was  Athanasius  against  the  world.  With  the  divine 
truth  of  the  blessed  Trinity  he  was  mightier  than  the 
world.  It  was  Luther  against  pope  and  emperor.  He 
could  do  no  other.  The  Word  of  God  in  his  hands  and 
in  his  heart  assured  him  of  justification  by  faith ;  and 
poor,  weak  man  though  he  was,  he  was  mightier  than 
Church  and  State  combined. 

It  was  this  principle  '*  that  the  supreme  judge,  by 
which  all  controversies  of  religion  are  to  be  determined, 
and  all  decrees  of  councils,  opinions  of  ancient  writers, 
doctrines  of  men,  and  private  spirits,  are  to  be  examined, 
and  in  whose  sentence  we  are  to  rest,  can  be  no  other 
but  the  Holy  Spirit  speaking  in  the  Scripture,"*  that 
made  the  Puritan  faith  and  life  invincible. 

O  that  their  descendants  had  maintained  it !  If  they 
had  laid  less  stress  upon  the  minor  matters :  the  order 
of  the  decrees,  the  extent  of  the  atonement,  the  nature 
of  imputation,  the  mode  of  inspiration,  and  the  divine 
right  of  presbytery, — and  had  adhered  to  this  essential 
principle  of  their  fathers,  the  history  of  Puritanism  would 


*  Westminster  Confession^  I.  10. 


366  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

have  been  higher,  grander,  and  more  successful.  We 
would  not  now  be  threatened  with  the  ruin  that  has 
overtaken  all  its  unfaithful  predecessors  in  their  turn. 
Let  their  children  return  to  it;  let  them  cling  to  it  as 
the  most  precious  achievement  of  British  Christianity ; 
let  them  raise  it  on  their  banners,  and  advance  with  it 
into  the  conflicts  of  the  day ;  let  them  plant  it  on  every 
hill  and  in  every  valley  throughout  the  world  ;  let  them 
not  only  give  the  Bible  into  the  hands  of  men  and  trans- 
late it  into  their  tongues,  but  let  them  put  it  into  their 
hearts,  and  translate  it  into  their  lives.  Then  will 
Biblical  interpretation  reach  its  culmination  in  practical 
interpretation,  in  the  experience  and  life  of  mankind. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY. 

Biblical  Theology,  as  a  theological  discipline,  had 
its  origin  in  the  effort  to  throw  off  from  the  Bible  the 
accumulated  traditions  of  scholasticism,  guard  it  from 
the  perversions  of  mysticism,  and  defend  it  from  the  at- 
tacks of  rationalism.  Its  growth  has  been  through  a 
struggle  with  these  abnormal  tendencies,  until  it  has  es- 
tablished a  well-defined  system,  presenting  the  unity  of 
the  Scriptures  as  a  divine  organism,  and  justly  estimating 
the  various  human  types  of  religion,  doctrine,  and  morals. 

L   THE  FOUR  TYPES  OF  THEOLOGY. 

The  Bible  is  the  divine  revelation  as  it  has  become 
fixed  and  permanent  in  written  documents  of  various 
persons  in  different  periods  of  history,  collected  in  one 
body  called  the  canon,  or  sacred  Scriptures.  All  Chris- 
tian theology  must  be  founded  on  the  Bible,  and  yet  the 
theologians  of  the  various  Christian  churches,  and  the 
several  periods  of  Christian  history  have  differed  great- 
ly in  their  use  of  the  Bible.  Each  age  has  its  own  prov- 
idential problems  to  solve  in  the  progress  of  our  race, 
and  seeks  in  the  divine  word  for  their  solution,  looking 
from  the  point  of  view. of  its  own  immediate  and  pecul- 
iar necessities.  Each  temperament  and  characteristic 
tendency  of  human  nature  approaches  the  Bible  from  its 

(367) 


3(58  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

own  peculiarities  and  necessities.  The  subjective  and 
the  objective,  the  form  and  the  substance  of  knowledge, 
the  real  and  the  ideal,  are  ever  readjusting  themselves 
to  the  advancing  generations.  If  the  Bible  were  a  codex 
of  laws,  or  a  system  of  doctrines,  there  would  still  be 
room  for  difference  of  attitude  and  interpretation ;  but 
inasmuch  as  the  Bible  is  rather  a  collection  of  various 
kinds  of  literature :  poetry  and  prose,  history  and  story, 
oration  and  epistle,  sentence  of  wisdom  and  dramatic 
incident ;  and,  as  a  whole,  concrete  rather  than  abstract, 
the  room  for  difference  of  attitude  and  interpretation  is 
vastly  enhanced.  Principles  are  not  always  distinctly 
given,  but  must  ordinarily  be  derived  from  a  concrete 
body  of  truth  and  facts,  and  concrete  relations ;  and 
everything  depends  upon  the  point  of  view,  method, 
process,  and  the  spirit  with  which  the  study  is  conducted. 
Thus  the  mystic  spirit  arising  from  an  emotional  nat- 
ure and  unfolding  into  a  more  or  less  refined  aesthetic 
sense,  seeks  union  and  communion  with  God,  direct,  im- 
mediate, and  vital,  through  the  religious  feeling.  It 
either  strives  t6  break  through  the  forms  of  religion  to 
the  spiritual  substance,  or  else  by  the  imagination  sees 
allegories  in  the  forms,  or  modes  of  divine  manifestation 
in  sensuous  outlines  and  colors  of  beauty  and  grandeur, 
to  be  interpreted  by  the  religious  aesthetic  taste.  The 
religious  element  is  disproportionately  unfolded,  to  the 
neglect  of  the  doctrinal  and  ethical.  This  mystic  spirit 
exists  in  all  ages  and  in  most  religions,  but  it  was  es- 
pecially prominent  in  the  Ante-Nicene  church,  and  in 
Greek  and  Oriental  Christianity,  and  was  distinguished 
by  its  intense  devotion  and  its  too  exclusive  absorption 
in  the  contemplation  of  God  and  of  Jesus  Christ  as  God 
and  Saviour.  Its  exegesis  is  characterized  by  the  alle- 
gorical method. 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  359 

The  scholastic  spirit  seeks  union  and  communion  with 
God  by  means  of  well-ordered  forms.  It  searches  the 
Word  of  God  for  a  well-defined  system  of  law  and  doc- 
trine by  which  to  rule  the  Church  and  control  the  world. 
It  arises  from  an  intellectual  nature,. and  grows  into  a 
more  or  less  acute  logical  sense,  and  a  taste  for  systems  of 
order.  This  spirit  exists  in  all  ages  and  in  most  religions, 
but  was  especially  dominant  in  the  middle  age  of  the 
church  and  in  Latin  Christianity.  It  is  distinguished  by 
an  intense  legality  and  by  too  exclusive  attention  to  the 
works  of  the  law,  and  the  consideration  of  the  sover- 
eignty of  God,  the  sinfulness  of  man,  and  the  satisfac- 
tion to  be  rendered  to  God  for  sin.  In  Biblical  studies 
it  is  distinguished  by  the  legal,  analytic  method  of  in- 
terpretation, carried  on  at  times  with  such  hair-splitting 
distinctions,  and  subtilty  of  reasoning,  that  the  Script- 
ures become  as  it  were  a  magician's  book,  which  through 
the  device  of  the  manifold  sense  are  as  effectual  to  the 
purpose  of  the  dogmatician  for  proof  texts  as  are  the 
sacraments  to  the  priests  in  their  magical  operation. 
The  doctrinal  element  prevails  over  the  religious  and 
ethical. 

The  speculative  spirit  seeks  union  and  communion  with 
God  through  the  human  reason  and  conscience,  and,  like 
the  mystic  spirit,  disregards  the  form,  but  from  another 
point  of  view.  It  is  developed  into  a  more  or  less  pure 
ethical  sense.  It  works  with  honest  doubt  and  inquisi- 
tive search  after  truth,  for  the  solution  of  the  great  prob- 
lem of  the  world  and  man.  It  is  distinguished  by  an 
intense  rationality  and  morality.  It  yearns  for  a  con- 
science at  peace  with  God  and  working  in  faith  toward 
God  and  love  toward  man.  This  has  been  the  prevailing 
spirit  in  the  Germanic  world  since  the  Reformation,  and 
is  still  the  characteristic  spirit  of  our  age.  The  Church, 
IG* 


370  BIBLICAL  STUDr. 

its  institutions  and  doctrines,  the  sacred  Scriptures  them- 
selves, are  subjected  to  tamest  criticism  in  the  honest 
search  for  moral  and  redemptive  truth,  and  the  eternal 
ideas  of  right,  which  are  good  forever,  and  are  approved 
by  the  reason  and  conscience.  The  ethical  element  pre- 
vails over  the  religious  and  the  doctrinal. 

Now,  the  evangelical  spirit  combines  what  is  true  and 
of  advantage  in  all  these  tendencies  of  human  nature. 
Bom  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  is  ever  appropriating  all  the 
faculties  and  powers  of  man,  and  eliminating  therefrom 
defective  and  abnormal  tendencies  and  habits.  It  is 
reverent,  believing,  loving  approach  to  God  through  the 
means  of  grace.  It  is  above  all  vital  union  and  com- 
munion with  the  Triune  God  in  the  forms  of  divine  ap- 
pointment, and  the  love  and  service  of  God  and  the 
brethren  with  all  the  faculties.  It  uses  the  form  in  order 
to  the  substance.  It  is  inquiring,  obedient,  devout,  and 
reformatory.  It  combines  the  subject  and  the  object  of 
knowledge,  and  aims  to  realize  the  ideal.  It  unites  the 
devotional  with  the  legal  and  moral  habits  and  attitudes. 
It  strives  to  unite  in  the  church  the  various  types  of 
human  experience  in  order  to  complete  manhood,  and 
the  completion  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  golden  age 
of  the  Messiah. 

This  evangelical  spirit  is  the  spirit  of  our  Saviour,  who 
speaks  to  us  through  four  evangelists  in  the  various 
types,  in  order  to  give  us  a  complete  and  harmonious 
representation  of  Himself.  This  is  the  spirit  which  com- 
bines the  variety  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  writers 
into  the  unity  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  is  the  spirit 
which  animated  the  Christian  church  in  its  great  ad- 
vancing epochs,  when  a  variety  of  leaders,  guided  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  combined  the  types  into  comprehensive 
movements.    This  was  the  underlying  and  moving  prin- 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  371^ 

ciple  of  the  Reformation  and  of  Puritanism  where  vital 
religion  combined  with  great  intellectual  activity  and 
moral  earnestness,  to  produce  the  churches  of  Protestant 
Christianity. 

The  great  initial  movements  by  which  the  Christian 
church  advanced  in  the  combination  of  the  variety  of 
forces  into  harmonious  operation,  in  every  case  gave  way 
to  reaction  and  decline,  in  which  the  various  forces  sep- 
arated themselves,  and  some  particular  one  prevailed. 
So  it  was  in  the  seventeenth  century  after  the  Reforma- 
tion. The  successors  of  the  reformers,  declining  from 
the  vital  religion  arid  moral  vigor  of  Luther,  Calvin,  and 
Knox,  broke  up  into  various  antagonistic  parties  in  the 
different  national  churches,  in  hostility  with  one  another, 
more  and  more  marring  the  harmony  of  divine  truth  and 
the  principles  of  the  Reformation.  The  reaction  first 
began  with  those  who  had  inherited  the  scholastic  spirit 
from  the  middle  age,  and  substituted  a  Protestant  scho- 
lasticism for  the  mediaeval  scholasticism  in  the  Lutheran 
and  Reformed  churches  of  the  continent,  and  a  Protest- 
ant ecclesiasticism  for  a  papal  in  the  churches  of  Great 
Britain.  The  Scriptures  once  more  became  the  slaves 
of  dogmatic  systems  and  ecclesiastical  machinery,  and 
were  reduced  to  the  menial  service  of  furnishing  proof 
texts  to  the  foregone  conclusions  of  polemic  divines  and 
ecclesiastics. 

The  French  Huguenots  and  British  Puritans,  in  their 
struggles  against  persecution,  maintained  a  vital  religion, 
and  reacted  to  the  unfolding  of  the  mystic  type  of  the- 
ology and  devoted  their  attention  to  works  of  piety,  to 
union  and  communion  with  God,  and  the  practical  ap- 
plication of  the  Scriptures  to  Christian  life,  holding  fast 
to  the  covenant  of  grace  as  the  principle  of  their  entire 
theology,  while  they  distinguished  between  a  theoretical 


372  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

and  a  practical  divinity,  presenting  the  former  in  the 
common  Reformed  sense,  but  advancing  the  latter  to  a 
very  high  degree  of  development,  the  best  expression  of 
which  is  found  in  the  Westminster  symbols.*  Puritan- 
ism had,  however,  within  itself  antagonistic  elements, 
which  separated  themselves  after  the  composition  of  the 
Westminster  standards,  into  various  types,  and  the  Puri- 
tan spirit  largely  advanced  into  the  Puritanical^  on  the 
one  side  jeacting  to  scholasticism  in  the  school  of  the  In- 
dependent divine,  John  Owen,  and  on  the  other  into 
mysticism,  in  the  many  separating  churches  of  Great 
Britain,  and  in  such  members  of  the  Westminster  As- 
sembly as  Thomas  Goodwin  and  Peter  Sterry.  Puritan- 
ism passed  over  to  the  continent  through  Wm.  Ames 
and  others,  and  in  the  school  of  Cocceius  maintained  a 
more  biblical  cast  of  doctrine  in  the  system  of  the  cove- 
nants, and  afterward  gave  birth  to  Pietism  fn  Reformed 
and  Lutheran  Germany,  producing  the  biblical  school  of 
Bengel  and  the  Moravians ;  subsequently  bursting  forth 
in  England  in  the  form  of  Methodism,  which  is  a  genu- 


*  John  Dury,  one  of  the  Westminster  divines,  a  Scotchman,  the  great  peace- 
maker of  his  age,  in  his  work,  An  Earnest  Plea  for  Gospel  Covimunion,  sheds 
much  light  upon  this  subject.  He  defines  Practical  Divinity  to  be  "a  system  or 
collection  of  divine  truth  relating  to  the  Practice  of  Piety."  The  great  majority 
of  the  writings  of  the  Puritan  divines  and  Westminster  men  are  upon  this  theme. 
It  embraces  chaps,  xix.-xxxi.  of  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  the  larger 
part  of  the  Catechisms,  and  indeed  the  more  characteristic,  the  abler,  and  the 
better  parts.  Wm.  Gouge  (also  member  of  Westminster  Assembly)  in  1633 
headed  a  petition  of  the  London  ministers  to  Archbishop  Ussher  to  frame  a  sys- 
tem of  Practical  Divinity,  as  a  bond  of  union  among  Protestants,  distinguishing 
between  essentials  and  circumstantials.  John  Dury,  in  1654,  presents  such  an 
outline  himself,  working  it  out  on  the  principle  of  the  Covenant  of  Grace.  He 
says  :  "  Nor  is  it  possible  (as  I  conceive)  ever  to  unite  the  Professors  of  Christi- 
anity to  each  other,  to  heal  their  breaches  and  divisions  in  Doctrine  and  Practice, 
and  to  make  them  live  together,  as  brethren  in  one  spirit  ought  to  do,  without  the 
same  sense  of  the  Covenant  by  which  they  may  be  made  to  perceive  the  terms 
upon  which  God  doth  unite  all  those  that  are  his  children  ynto  himself  "  (p.  19, 
An  Earnest  Plea/or  Gospel  Communion,  Loudon,  1654). 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  373 

ine  child  of  Puritanism  in  ther  stress  that  it  lays  upon 
piety  and  a  Christian  Hfe,  although  it  shares  with  all 
these  movements  that  have  grown  out  of  Puritanism, 
the  common  fault  of  undue  emphasis  upon  the  religious 
element,  and  a  more  or  less  sharply  defined  mysticism, 
•  to  the  neglect  of  the  doctrinal  and  the  ethical. 

The  school  of  Saumur  in  France,  the  school  of  Calix- 
tus  in  Germany,  and  the  Cambridge  Platonists  in  Eng- 
land (who  were  Puritan  in  origin  and  training),  revived 
the  ethical  type  and  strove  to  give  the  human  reason  its 
proper  place  and  "functions  in  matters  of  religion,  and 
prepared  the  way  for  a  broad,  comprehensive  church. 
They  were  accompanied,  however,  by  a  more  active 
movement,  which  by  an  undue  emphasis  of  the  rational 
and  the  ethical,  followed  Hobbes,  John  Goodwin,  and 
Biddle  into  a  movement  which  in  England  assumed  the 
form  of  Deism,  and  in  France  of  Atheism,  in  Holland  of 
Pantheism,  and  in  Germany  of  Rationalism.  And  thus 
the  three  great  types  became  antagonized  both  within 
the  national  churches,  in  struggling  parties,  and  without 
the  national  churches,  in  separating  churches  and  hostile 
forms  of  religion  and  irreligion,  of  philosophy  and  of 
science.  Thus  the  evangelical  spirit  of  the  Reformation 
was  crushed  between  the  contending  parties,  and  its 
voice  drowned  for  a  while  by  the  clamor  of  partisanship. 
The  struggle  has  continued  into  the  present  century,  but 
has  been  modified  since  Schleiermacher  in  the  growth  of 
the  evangelical  spirit  to  become  the  potent  reconciling 
force  of  the  19th  century.* 

*  The  various  types  are  not  always  found  in  their  strength  and  purity  as  di- 
vergent forces,  but  frequently  in  a  more  or  less  mixed  condition.  Thus  the 
Cambridge  Platonists,  while  predominantly  rational  and  ethical,  were  also  char- 
arterized  by  the  mystic  spirit,  especially  in  the  case  of  Henry  Moore.  The  Puri- 
tans, William  Perkins  and  William  Ames,  combined  the  Scholastic  and  mystic 
types.  The  scholastic  and  the  rational  combined  in  Calixtus  and  Arminius. 
This  might  be  illustrated  by  numerous  examples. 


374  BIBUCAL  STUDY. 

II.   RISE  OF  BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  conflict  of  theological  types 
that  Biblical  Theology  had  its  origin  and  historical  de- 
velopment, and  has  now  its  position  and  importance.  It 
was  first  during  the  conflict  between  Rationalism  and 
Supernaturalism  in  Germany  that  the  need  of  a  Biblical 
Theology  began  to  be  felt.  Scripture  was  the  common 
battle-field  of  Protestants,  and  each  party  strove  to  pre- 
sent the  Scriptures  from  its  own  peculiar  point  of  view ; 
and  it  became  important  to  distinguish  the  teachings  of 
the  Scriptures  themselves  from  the  teachings  of  the 
schools  and  the  theologians  of  the  contending  parties. 
This  was  attempted  almost  simultaneously  from  both 
sides  of  the  conflict.  G.  T.  Zacharia,  a  pupil  of  Baum- 
garten  at  Halle,  and  a  decided  supernaturalist,*  would 
compare  the  Biblical  ideas  with  the  church  doctrine  in 
order  to  correct  and  purify  the  latter.  He  would  base 
Dogmatics  on  the  Scriptures,  which  alone  can  prove 
and  correct  the  system.  The  author  speaks  of  the  ad- 
vancing economy  of  redemption,  but  has  no  conception 
of  an  organic  development.f  Soon  after,  Ammon  (C.  F.) 
issued  his  work  on  Biblical  Theology.^  Ammon  was  a 
rationalist.  Miracles  and  prophecy  are  rejected  as  un- 
tenable. They  will  not  bear  critical  and  historical  inves- 
tigation. He  would  gather  material  from  the  Bible  for 
a  dogmatic  system  without  regard  to  the  system  that 
might  be  built  upon  .it.§  Thus  from  both  sides  the 
scholastic  system  was  undermined  by  the  scriptural  in- 
vestigation. 

*  Bibl.  Theol.  o^er  Untersucbung  dts  Bitlischen  Gnendes  der  vomehtnsten 
theologischen  Lehren^  XTr2. 

t  See  Tholuck's  view  of  him  fai  Herrog^,  Real  Ency.^  i  Auf .,  xviii.,  p.  351,    . 

X  Entwurfeiner  reinen  Bibl.  Tkeoltgie,  1792,  and  Biblische  Theologie^  1801. 

%  Tholuck  regards  his  Biblical  Theology  as  a  fundamental  one  for  the  histori- 
co-critical  Rationalism.    (See  Heriog,  i  AuIL,  xix.,  p.  54,  seq^ 


BIBUCAL  THEOLOGY.  375 

In  the  meanwhile  Michaelis,  Griesbach,  and  Eichhom 
had  given  a  new  impetus  to  Biblical  studies.  Gabler 
(J.  F.),  the  pupil  and  friend  of  Eichhorn  and  Gries- 
bach, who  influenced  him  and  largely  determined  his 
theological  position,  first  laid  the  foundations  of  Bib- 
lical Theology  as  a  distinct  theological  discipline.*  He 
presented  the  historical  principle  as  the  distinguishing 
feature  of  Biblical  Theology  over  against  a  system  of 
Dogmatics.f  Gabler  himself  did  not  work  out  his  prin- 
ciples into  a  system,  but  left  this  as  an  inheritance  to  his 
successors. 

Lorenzo  Baur :}:  defines  Biblical  Jheology  as  a  develop- 
ment, pure  and  unmixed  with  foreign  elements,  of  the 
religious  theories  of  the  Jews,  of  Jesus,  and  the  apostles, 
according  to  the  different  historical  periods,  the  varied 
acquirements  and  views  of  the  sacred  writers,  as  derived 
from  their  writings.  He  sought  to  determine  the  uni- 
versal principles  which  would  apply  to  all  times  and  in- 
dividuals. He  would  from  the  shell  of  Biblical  ideas  get 
the  kernel  of  the  universal  religion. §  De  Wette  ||  sought 
to  separate  the  essential   from  the  non-essential  by  re- 


*  In  an  academic  discourse:  de  justo  discrimine  theologice  biblica  et  dog- 
matics regundisque  recte  utriusque  finibus,  1787. 

t  Gabler  was  a  man  of  the  type  of  Eichhom  and  Herder,  on  the  borders  of 
the  i8th  and  19th  centuries,  from  whom  the  fructifying  influences  upon  the 
EvangelicJil  Theolc^y  of  the  19th  century  went  forth.  He  labored  for  many 
years  as  Professor  at  Jena,  and  worked  for  the  advancement  of  Biblical  and  His- 
torical Learning  with  an  intense  moral  earnestness. 

X  Bihl.  Theo.  d.  N.  T.,  1800-1802. 

§  P.  C.  Kiiiser's  Bibliscke  Theologie  oder  yudaismus  und  Christianismtts 
nach  grammatisck'historischen  Interpretationsmethode  und  nach  einer  /rei- 
muthigen  Steilung  in  die  kritisch  vergleichende  Universalgeschichte  der  Relig- 
ion und  die  universale  Religion  (Bd.  L,  1813;  IL  a,  1814 ;  II.  b.  1821)  is  of 
the  same  point  of  view. 

I  Bibl.  Dogmatik  des  Alt.  und  Neuen  Testaments  oder  kritische  Darstellung 
ier  Religionslehre  des  Hebraismus,  des  yudentkums,  des  Urchristenthums, 
1813,  3te  Auil.,  1831. 


376  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

ligious  philosophical  reflection.  He  would  exclude  the 
local,  the  temporal,  and  the  individual  in  order  to  attain 
the  universal  religion.  He  made  the  advance  of  treat- 
ing Biblical  Theology  in  periods,  and  of  distinguishing 
the  characteristic  features  of  Hebraism  and  Judaism,  of 
Christ  and  His  apostles ;  but  in  his  treatment  the  dog- 
matic element  has  too  great  prominence  given  to  it,  so 
that  he  justly  gives  this  work  the  title,  Biblical  Dog- 
matics* W.  Vatkef  in  1835  issued  an  able  and  instruct- 
ive work,  discussing  fully  the  essential  character  of  the 
Biblical  religion  in  relation  to  the  idea  of  religion.  He 
divides  his  theme  int^  two  parts,  presenting  the  religion 
of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments.  The  first  part  is 
subdivided  into  two  stages :  the  Bloom  and  the  Decay, 
historically  traced.  The  author  also  divides  into  a  gen- 
eral and  a  special  part ;  the  former  alone  has  been  pub- 
lished, and  is  entirely  speculative  in  character.  It  does 
.  not  consider  the  individualities  of  the  authors,  and  shows 
no  advance  beyond  L.  Baur  and  DeWette,:{:  Daniel  von 
Coin  §  carries  out  the  historical  method  more  thoroughly 
than  any  of  his  predecessors,  and  presents  a  much  more 
complete  system,  but  he  does  not  escape  the  speculative 

*  L.  F.  O.  Baumgarten  Crusius'  Grundzuge  der  Bihlischen  Theologie^  1828^ 
is  of  slight  importance,  reacting  from  the  advances  made  by  L.  Baur  and  De 
Wette.  '  f  • 

t  Religion  des  Alien  Testaments  nack  den  kanonischen  BUchern  entwickelt, 
as  the  first  part  of  a  Biblical  Theology. 

X  It  has  recently  come  into,  prominence,  owing  to  the  author's  views  of  O.  T. 
Literature,  which  are  in  agreement  with  those  of  Reuss  and  Kuenen,  at  the  ba- 
sis of  L'.ie  Critical  Theories  of  Wellhausen. 

J.  C.  F.  Steudel's  Vorlesungen  iiber  die  Theologie  des  Alien  Testaments 
nach  dessen  Tode  herausgegeben  von  G.  F.  Oehler,  1840,  is  still  on  the  older 
ground,  taking  Biblical  Theology  10  be  "the  systematic  survey  of  the  religious- 
ideas  which  are  found  in  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament,"  including  the 
Apocryphal,  without  distinction  of  periods  or  authors  or  writings,  all  arranged 
under  the  topics :  Man,  God,  and  the  relation  between  God  and  Man. 

§  Bill.  T/teo.,  1836. 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  377 

trammels  of  his  predecessors.     He  presents  the  follow- 
ing principles  of  Biblical  Theology : 

"  (i)  To  carefully  distinguish  the  times  and  authors,  and  the  medi- 
ate as  well  as  the  immediate  presentation  of  doctrine;  (2)  To 
strongly  maintain  the  religious  ideas  of  the  authors  themselves  ;  (3) 
To  present  and  explain  the  symbolical  mythical  forms  and  their  re- 
lation to  the  pure  ideas  and  convictions  of  the  authors ;  (4)  To  ex- 
plain the  relation  of  the  authors  and  their  methods  to  the  external 
conditions  of  the  people,  the  time  and  the  place  under  which  they 
were  trained  ;  (5)  To  search  for  the  origin  of  the  ideas  in  their  prim- 
itive forms."  * 

De  Wette  and  Von  Coin  recognize  a  difference  of  the 
authors,  but  not  from  any  inner  peculiarity  of  the  au- 
thors themselves,  but  from  the  external  conditions  of 
time,  place,  and  circumstances.  The  authors  are  placed 
side  by  side  without  any  real  conception  of  their  differ- 
ences or  of  their  unity.  The  historical  principle  is  ap- 
plied and  worked  out,  but  in  an  external  fashion,  and 
the  relation  to  the  universal  religion  and  other  religions 
is  considered  rather  than  the  interrelation  of  the  vari- 
ous doctrines  and  types  of  the  Scriptures  themselves. 

III.   DEVELOPMENT  OF  BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY. 

This  was  the  condition  of  affairs  when  Strauss  issued 
his  Life  of  Jesus,  and  sought,  by  arraying  one  New  Tes- 
tament writer  against  another,  as  F.  Baur  justly  charges 
against  him,  to  prove  the  incompetence  of  all  the  wit- 
nesses and  reduce  the  life  of  Jesus  to  a  myth.f  F.  Baur 
himself  sought  by  the  historico-critical  process  to  show 
the  natural  development  of  Christianity  out  of  the  vari- 
ous forces  brought  into  conflict  with  each  other  in  the 


*  Bib.  Theologie^  L,  p.  30. 

t  F.  Baur,  Krit.  Untersuch.  in  d.  kann.  Evang.,  p.  71 ;  F.  Baur,  Kirchen- 
geschichte  des  19  Jahrhunderts,  p,  397.  Strauss  replies  in  his  Leben  Jesuf.  d, 
deutsche  Voik.,  p.  64. 


378  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

first  and  second  Christian  centuries,  reducing  the  life 
and  teachings  of  Jesus  to  a  minimum.  Neander  grap- 
pled with  the  mythical  hypothesis  of  Strauss,  and  the 
development  hypothesis  of  F.  Baur,  and  sought  to  con- 
struct a  life  of  Jesus  and  a  history  of  the  apostolic 
church,  resting  upon  a  sound  historical  criticism  of  the 
New  Testament  writings.*"  He  introduced  a  new  prin- 
ciple into  Biblical  Theology,  and  made  it  a  section  in  his 
History  of  the  Apostles.  He  sought  to  distinguish  the 
individualities  of  the  various  sacred  writers  in  their  con- 
ception of  Christianity  and  to  unite  them  in  a  higher 
unity. 

"  The  doctrine  of  Christ  was  not  to  be  given  to  man  as  a  stiff  and 
dead  letter,  in  a  fixed  and  inflexible  form,  but,  as  the  word  of  the 
Spirit  and  of  life,  was  to  be  proclaimed  in  and  by  its  life  in  living  va- 
riation and  variety.  Men  enlightened  by  the  Divine  Spirit  caught  up 
these  doctrines  and  appropriated  them  in  a  living  manner  according 
to  their  respective  differences  in  education  and  life.  These  differ- 
ences were  to  manifest  the  living  unity,  the  richness  and  depth  of 
the  Christian  spirit  according  to  the  various  modes  of  human  con- 
ception, unconsciously  complementing  and  explaining  each  other. 
For  Christianity  is  meant  for  all  men,  and  can  adapt  itself  to  the 
most  varied  human  characters,  transform  them  and  unite  them  in  a 
higher  unity.  For  the  various  peculiarities  and  fundamental  tenden- 
cies in  human  nature  are  designed  to  work  in  and  with  one  another 
at  all  times  for  the  realization  of  the  idea  of  humanity,  the  presenta- 
tion of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  humanity."  t  f  ■'♦ 

Neander  thus  gave  to  Biblical  Theology  a  new  and 

important  feature  that  was  indispensable  for  the  further 

•development  of  the  discipline.     Neander's  presentation 


*  Geschichte  der  Pflanzung  und  Leitung  der  christlichen  Kirche  durch  die 
Apostel,  1832,  5th  Aufl.,  1862  ;  translated  into  English  in  Biblical  Cabinet,  Edin- 
burgh, 1842;  Bohn's  Library,  London,  1856;  translated  by  J.  E.  Ryland,  re- 
vised and  corrected  according  to  the  fourth  German  edition  by  E.  G.  Robinson, 
N.  Y.,  1865. 

t  Gesch.  d.  P/.  und  Lgit.,  Gotha,  5te  Aufl.,  p.  501. 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  379 

has  Still  many  defects.  It  is  kept  in  a  too  subordinate 
position  to  his  history.  But  he  takes  the  stand  so  nec- 
essary for  the  growth  of  Biblical  Theology  that  the  the- 
ology of  the  various  authors  is  to  be  determined  from 
their  own  characters  and  the  essential  and  fundamental 
conceptions  of  their  own  writings.  Neander  presents  as 
the  central  idea  of  Paul,  the  law  and  righteousness,  which 
give  the  connection  as  well  as  contrast  between  his  original 
and  final  conception.  The  fundamental  idea  of  James 
is,  that  Christianity  is  th.Q perfect  law.  John's  conception 
is,  that  divine  life  is  in  communion  with  the  Redeemer, 
death  in  estrangement  from  Him. 

Schmid,  a  colleague  of  F.  Baur  at  Tubingen,  first  gave 
Biblical  Theology  its  proper  place  in  Theological  Ency- 
clopaedia.^ He  defined  Biblical  Theology  as  belonging 
essentially  to  the  department  of  Exegetical  Theology. 
"  We  understand  by  Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament the  historico-genetic  presentation  of  Christianity 
as  this  is  given  in  the  canonical  writings  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament ;  a  discipline  which  is  essentially  distinguished 
from  Systematic  Theology  by  its  historical  character, 
while  by  its  limitation  to  the  biblical  writings  of  the  New 
Testamefit,  it  is  separated  from  Historical  Theology,  and 
is  characterized  as  a  part  of  Exegetical  Theology.  Of 
this  last  it  constitutes  the  sumtnit  by  which  Exegetical 
Theology  is  connected  with  the  roots  of  Systematic  as 
well  as  Historical  Theology,  and  even  touches  Practi- 
cal Theology."  Schmid  regards  Christianity  as  the 
fulfilment  of  the  Old  Covenant,  which  consists  in  Law 
and  Promise.f     He  seeks  to  present  Christianity  in  its 


*  In  his  invaluable  essay,  Ueher  das  Interesse  und  den  Stand  d.  Bihl.  Theo. 
des  Neu.  Test,  in  unsererZeit.  Tubinger  Zeitschri/t  /.  Theo.,  4  Heft.,  1838, 
pp.  126,  129. 

t  AA  Theo., -p.  367. 


380  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

unity  with  the  Old  Testament  as  well  as  in  its  contrast 
thereto.  He  thus  gains  four  possibilities  of  doctrine, 
which  are  realized  in  the  four  principal  apostles.  James 
presents  Christianity  as  the  fulfilled  Law  ;  Peter  as  the 
fulfilled  Promise  ;  Paul  as  contrasted  with  the  Law  ;  and 
John  as  contrasted  with  both  Law  and  Promise.  For 
many  years  he  lectured  on  the  Theology  of  the  New 
Testament.  These  lectures  were  published  after  his 
death  by  his  pupils.* 

Oehler  (G.  F.),  also  of  the  university  of  Tubingen, 
takes  the  same  position  with  reference  to  the  Old  Tes- 
tament.f  He  defines  the  Theology  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment as  "  the  historico-genetic  presentation  of  the  re- 
vealed religion  contained  in  the  canonical  writings  of 
the  Old  Testament."  His  Lectures  were  first  issued  in 
1873-4,:}:  by  his  son.  Oehler  distinguishes  in  the  Old 
Testament  three  parts  :  Mosaism,  Prophetism,  and  the 
Chokma — the  first  fundamental ;  the  Prophetism  repre- 
senting the  objective  side,  and  the  Chokma  the  subject- 
ive :  these  two  unfolding  in  parallelism  with  one  another. 
Thus  he  marks  an  advance  in  the  Old  Testament  in  the 
discrimination  of  types,  corresponding  with  the  distin- 
guishing of  types  in  the  New  Testament  by  Neander 
and  Schmid.§  Schmid  and  Oehler  combine  in  giving  us 
organic  systems  of  Biblical  Theology  as  the  highest  pojnt 
of  Exegetical  Theology,  and  with  a  distinction  of  types 
combining  in  a  higher  unity,  and  with  Neander  introduce 
a  new  epoch  in  Biblical  Theology.  || 

*  Biblische  Theologie  des  Neuen  Testaments,  1853,  4th  ed.,  1869.  Translated 
into  English,  but  without  the  invaluable  definitions  at  the  beginning  of  the  sec- 
tions.    Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1870. 

t  Prolegomena  zur  Theclogie  des  Alien  Testaments,  1845. 

X  Theologie  des  Alten  Test.,  a  Bde.,  II.  AuB.,  1883. 

§  His  work  has  been  translated  into  English  in  Clark's  Lib.,  Edin.,  a  vols., 
1874 ;  also  revised  and  edited  by  Prof.  G.  E.  Day.     New  York,  1883. 

I  The  posthumous  Lectures  of  Prof.  Hivemlck,  of  Konigsburg,  on  Bihl.  Theo. 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  3gl 

On  the  other  hand,  F.  Baur  attempts  to  account  for 
the  peculiarities  of  the  New  Testament  writings,  as  well 
as  the  origin  of  the  Christian  church,  by  his  theory  of 
the  two  opposing  forces,  the  Judaistic  and  the  Pauline, 
gradually  uniting  in  the  later  writings  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament in  the  second  century  into  a  more  conservative 
and  mediating  theology,  reaching  its  culmination  in  the 
Johannean  writings,  which  are  at  an  elevation  above  the 
peculiarities  of  the  earlier  stages  of  development.  Bib- 
lical Theology  is  to  Baur  a  purely  historical  discipline. 
In  it  the  scriptural  doctrine  loosens  itself  from  the  fet- 
ters of  the  dependent  relation  in  which  it  has  been  to 
the  dogmatic  systems  of  the  church,  and  will  more  and 
more  emancipate  itself  therefrom.  New  Testament  The- 
ology is  that  part  of  Historical  Theology  which  has  to 
present  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  as  well  as  the  doctrinal 
systems  resting  upon  it,  in  the  order  and  connection  of 
their  historical  development,  according  to  the  peculiar 
characteristics  by  which  they  are  distinguished  from  one 
another,  so  far  as  this  can  be  ascertained  in  the  New 
Testament  writings.  Baur  strongly  objects  to  the  idea 
of  Neander  and  his  school,  that  there  is  a  unity  in  the 
variety  of  New  Testament  doctrines,  which  is  the  very 
opposite  of  his  own  view  of  a  development  out  of  con- 
trasted and  irreconcilable  forces.  Baur  justly  admits 
that  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  must  be  at  the  foundation. 
The  doctrine  of  Jesus  must  be  drawn  chiefly  from  the 


d.  Alt.  Test.,  were  published  by  Hahn  in  1848,  and  a  revised  edition  by  Her- 
mann Schultx  in  1863,  but  are  of  no  special  value.  Prof.  H.  Messner,  of  Berlin, 
in  1856,  publislied  Die  Lehre  der  Apostel  in  the  spirit  of  Neander.  He  beg^ins 
with  the  system  of  James,  Jude,  and  Peter ;  makes  the  discourse  of  Stephen  a 
transition  to  the  Pauline  system,  and  g^ives  the  theology  of  Paul  with  that  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  appended,  and  concludes  witli  the  theology  of  John  and 
the  Apocalypse.  He  finally  gives  a  searching  comparison  of  the  various  forms  of 
apostolic  doctrine,  seeking  a  unity  in  the  variety. 


382  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

discourses  in  Matthew,  yet  these  not  in  their  present 
form,  as  given  in  our  Greek  Gospel,  but  in  their  original 
form,  to  be  determined  by  sound  criticism.  The  essen- 
tial principle  of  Christianity  and  of  the  doctrine  of  Jesus 
is  the  ethical  principle  ;  the  law  is  not  only  enlarged  by 
the  Gospel,  but  the  Gospel  is  contrasted  with  it.  They 
are  related  as  the  outer  to  the  inner,  the  act  to  the  in- 
tention, the  letter  to  the  spirit.  "  Christianity  presented 
in  its  original  form  in  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  is  a  religidn 
breathing  th^  purest  .moral  spirit."  "This  moral  ele- 
ment, as  it  is  made  known  in  the  simple  sentences  of 
the  sermon  on  the  mount,  is  the  purest  and  clearest  con- 
tent of  the  doctrine  of  Jesus,  the  real  kernel  of  Chris- 
tianity, to  which  all  the  rest,  however  significant,  stands 
in  a  more  or  less  secondary  and  accidental  relation.  It 
is  that  on  which  the  rest  must  be  built,  for  however  little 
it  has  the  form  and  color  of  that  Christianity  which  has 
become  historical,  yet  it  is  in  itself  the  entire  Chris- 
tianity." * 

Neander  and  Baur,  the  great  historical  rivals  of  our 
century,  thus  attain  the  same  end  in  John's  contempla- 
tion which  reconciles  and  harmonizes  all  the  previous 
points  of  view.  According  to  Neander  and  his  school, 
the  variety  therein  attains  a  higher  unity ;  according  to 
Baur  and  his  school,  the  contradictory  positions  are  rec- 
onciled in  an  ideal  spirit  which  is  indifferent  to  all  mere 
externals.  The  Lectures  of  Baur  were  published  after 
his  death  in  i864.f 

Prof.  Reuss,  of  Strasburg,  in  1852  issued  his  History 
of  Christian  Theology  in  the  Apostolic  Age.:}:  In  the 
Preface  to  the  last  edition  he  states : 


*  Neu.  Test.  Tkeohgie,  p.  64,  seq. 

+  Vorlesungen  Qber  NeutestamentUche  Theologie. 

X  Histoire  de  la  Theologie  Chretienne  au  Silcle  ApcstoliqtUy  a  tomes. 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  383 

"  The  unity  which  has  been  sought  at  the  end  of  the  work,  I  have 
dwelt  upon  where  the  history  itself  points  to  it — namely,  at  the  be- 
ginning. It  is  in  the  primitive  Gospel,  in  the  teaching  of  the  Lord 
Himself,  that  we  find  the  focus  of  those  rays  which  the  prism  of 
analysis  places  before  us,  separately  in  their  different  shades  of  color. 
As  it  has  not  been  my  design  to  produce  a  critical  or  theoretical, 
but  a  historical  work,  I  have  necessarily  followed  the  natural  evolu- 
tion of  the  ideas,  nor  did  it  come  within  my  province  to  violate  this 
order  to  subserve  any  practical  purpose,  however  lawful." 

It  is  the  distinguishing  merit  of  Reuss  that  he  sets 
the  Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Testament  in  the 
midst  of  the  religious  movements  of  the  times.  He 
begins  with  a  discussion  of  Judaism,  e.  g.,  the  theology 
of  the  Jews  subsequent  to  the  Exile  and  in  its  various 
sects,  then  considers  John  the  Baptist  and  the  Forerun- 
ners. In  the  second  part  he  treats  of  the  Gospels  ;  in 
the  third  part  the  Jewish  Christian  Theology,  and  in  the 
fourth  the  Pauline,  and  in  the  fifth  the  theology  of  John. 
But  the  historical  method  absorbs  and  overwhelms  the 
inductive,  and  he  justly  names  his  work  a  History  of 
Christian  Theology  in  Apostolic  Times.  Standing  with 
the  school  of  Baur  in  contending  for  the  position  of  the 
discipline  in  Historical  Theology,  he  differs  from  it  in 
his  giving  up  the  reconciliation  of  contrasts  in  John's 
Theology.  In  the  same  year,  1852,  Lutterbeck,*  a  Ro- 
man Catholic  writer,  goes  even  more  thoroughly  than 
Reuss  into  the  doctrinal  systems  in  the  midst  of  which 
Christianity  arose :  (i)  The  Heathen  systems  ;  (2)  The 
Jewish  ;  (3)  The  mixed  systems  and  heresies  of  the 
apostolic  period.  He  then  passes  over  to  the  Christian 
system,  distinguishing  the  various  types  as  did  Neander, 


translation  of  the  3d  edition  into  English  has  been  published  by  Hodder  & 
Stoughton,  London,  in  2  vok.,  1872. 

*  Neutestamentlicken  Lehrbegriffen,  Ein  Hanibiuh  fiir  alteste  Dogmenge' 
schichte  und  systemaiiscke  Exegese  des  Neuen  Testamentes,  2  Bdnde. 


384  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

and  shows  their  genesis  and  internal  harniony  in  an  able 
and  thorough  manner,  distinguishing  three  stages  of 
apostolic  doctrine  :  (i)  From  the  death  of  Christ  to  the 
Apostolic  Council,  the  original  type  ;  (2)  The  time  of 
contrasted  views,  50-70 ;  (3)  The  period  of  mediation, 
or  the  later  life  of  the  apostle  John,  70-100  A.D. 
•  G.  L.  Hahn*  reacts  to  the  historical  ground  without 
distinction  of  types.  B.  Weiss  f  has  also  been  influ- 
enced by  the  conflict  between  the  schools  of  Neander 
and  Baur  to  take  an  intermediate  position.  He  ex- 
cludes the  life  of  Jesus  and  the^great  events  of  Apostolic 
history,  and  also  restricts  Biblical  Theology  to  the  vari- 
ety of  the  types  of  doctrine  and  abandons  the  effort  for. 
a  higher  unity.  Within  the  limits  chosen  by  the  author 
his  work  is  elaborate  and  thorough,  and  a  most  valuable 
addition  to  the  literature,  but  does  not  show  any  prog- 
ress in  his  conception  of  the  discipline. 

Hermann  Schultz,  in  1869,:}:  laid  stress  upon  the  his- 
torico-critical  method  of  the  school  of  Baur,  yet  includes 
religion  as  well  as  dogmatics  and  ethics  in  his  scheme, 
excluding  the  apocryphal  books  and  limiting  himself  to 
the  canonical  writings.  His  work  is  elaborate  and  thor- 
ough in  its  working  out  of  details,  but  does  not  show 
any  real  progress.^ 

In  his  Biblical  Theology,  Van  Oosterzee,||  in  1870,  does 
not  enter  much  into  details  or  present  a  thoroughgoing 


*  Theologie  des  Alten  Testaments,  voL  i.,  1854- 

t  Lehrb.  d.  Bibl.  Theo.  d.  N.  T.,  1868,  3te  Aufl.,  1880.  Translated  into  English 
in  Clark's  Library,  voL  i.,  1883. 

X  Alttestamentliche  Theologie,  2te  Aufl.,  187a 

§  In  his  last  edition  Schultz  has  gone  over  to  the  school  of  Wellhausen,  and 
reconstructed  his  Biblical  Theology  so  as  to  distinguish  a  Prophetic  and  Levitical 
period,  and  abandons  the  historical  development,  and  thus  like  Ewald  declines 
from  the  advanced  position  of  F.  Baur  and  Neander. 

J  Bibl.  Theo.  of  the  New  Test.  Translated  from  the  Dutch  by  M.  J.  Evans. 
N.  Y.,  1876. 


BIBUCAL  THEOLOGY.  385 

comparison,  yet  he  seeks  the  higher  unity  as  well  as  the 
individual  types.  He  regards  Biblical  Theology  as  apart 
of  Historical  Theology,  but  his  treatment  of  it  is  after 
the  style  of  Neander.  He  does  not  estimate  the  life  of 
Jesus  and  the  religious  life  of  the  apostolic  church.  He 
neglects  the  religious  and  ethical  elements,  and  as  a  whole 
must  be  regarded  as  falHng  behind  the  later  treatises  on 
the  subject.  Bernard*  issued  a  brief  work  in  the  spirit 
of  Neander,  but  without  any  advance  in  the  working  out 
of  the  theme. 

Ewald  (H.)  in  1871-6  issued  his  massive  and  profound 
work.f  The  first  volume  treats  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
word  of  God,  the  second  of  the  doctrine  of  God,  the 
third  of  the  world  and  man,  the  fourth  of  the  life  of 
men  and  the  kingdom  of  God.  These  divisions  of  the 
subject-matter  are  simple  and  comprehensive,  and  the 
treatment,  especially  in  the  first  volume,  admirable  and 
profound,  and  yet  the  historical  side  of  the  discipline 
falls  too  much  into  the  background  ;  so  that  we  must 
regard  the  work  on  the  whole  as  a  decline  from  the 
higher  position  of  the  schools  of  Neander  and  Baur. 
Indeed  Old  Testament  Theology  was  not  yet  ripe  for 
the  treatment  that  was  necessary  to  bring  it  up  to  the 
standard  of  the  New  Testament  Theology.  The  older 
views  of  the  Biblical  writings  of  the  Old  Testament, 
both  of  the  Critical  and  Traditional  sides,  were  too 
mechanical  and  uncertain.  There  was  needed  a  great 
overturning  of  the  soil  of  the  Old  Testament  by  a  rad- 
ical critical  study  of  its  religion  and  history  such  as 
Strauss  had  made  in  the  New  Testament.    Such  a  treat- 


*  Progress  of  Doctrine  in  the  New  Testament,  Bampton  Lectures,  1864,  2d 
edit.,  1867. 

t  Lehre  der  Bibel  von  Gott  oder  Theologie  des  Alten  und  Neuen  Bundes,  4 
Bde. 

17 


386  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

ment  was  prepared  by  Vatke,  Reuss,  and  Graf,*  but  first 
carried  out  by  Kuenen,f  and  then  by  Julius  Wellhausen.:|: 
These  distinguished  three  great  codes  and  sections  in  the 
Pentateuch,  and  found  two  antagonistic  elements  in  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures,  and  ventured  upon  a  radical 
reconstruction  of  Old  Testament  Religion  and  History 
and  established  a  large  and  enthusiastic  school. 

Kuenen,  in  his  history  of  Israel,  finds  in  the  period 
from  Hezekiah  to  the  exile  two  antagonistic  parties  in 
perpetual  conflict.  The  one  is  the  more  popular  and 
conservative  party  advocating  the  ancient  religion  of 
the  land,  the  local  sanctuaries  and  image  worship,  to- 
gether with  various  deities.  This  party  was  formed  by 
the  majority  of  the  prophets  and  the  older  Levitical 
priests.  The  other  party  was  the  progressive  and  the 
reforming  party  aiming  at  a  central  and  exclusive  sanct- 
uary and  the  worship  of  Jehovah  alone  in  a  more  spirit- 
ual manner.  This  was  the  priestly  party  at  Jerusalem 
formed  by  the  prophets  Isaiah,  Micah,  and  Jeremiah. 
These  parties  struggled  with  varying  fortunes  until  the 
exile.  The  reforming  party  issued  as  their  programme 
the  Deuteronomic  code.  Independent  of  them,  yet  at 
times  merging  with  the  party  of  progress,  was  the 
Chokma  tendency.§  The  struggle  was  thus  "  between 
Jahvism  and  Jewish  nationality."  |  During  the  exile, 
influenced  by  Ezekiel's  programme  of   reconstruction, 


*  Hitzig,  in  his  posthumous  VorUsungen  uber  Bibl.  Theo.  und  Mess.  Weissa- 
gungen,  1880,  treats  first  of  the  principle  of  the  religion  of  the  Old  Testament, 
e.g.,  the.  idea  of  God  as  a  holy  spirit.  This  developed  itself  in  two  directions: 
Universalism  and  Particularism,  The  book  is  defective  in  method,  arbitrary 
in  judgment,  jmd  shows  no  real  progress  beyond  this  distinction  of  types, 

t  Religion  of  Israel,  1869-70  (in  the  Dutch  language,  translated  1873-5  '°to 
English)  and  by  bis  Prof  Juts  and  Prophecy  in  Israel,  1877, 

X  Gesch.  Israel,  Bd.  L,  1878,  a  Ausg.,  1883. 

^  Religion  0/ Israel,  ii.,  chap.  6.  |  In  /.  c,  L,  p.  70. 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  387 

the  priestly  legislation  of  the  middle  books  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch was  composed,  and  Ezra  introduced  it  to  the 
new  commonwealth  at  Jerusalem. 

"  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  assailed  as  much  the  independence  of  the 
religious  life  of  the  Israelites,  which  found  utterance  in  prophecy, 
as  the  more  tolerant  judgment  upon  the  heathen  to  which  many  in- 
clined ;  their  reformation  was  in  other  words  anti-prophetic  and 
anti-universalistic.  History  teaches  us  that  the  Reformation  of 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah  nearly  coincides  in  date  with  the  disappearance 
of  Prophecy  in  Israel."     (II.,  p.  240,  seq.).* 

The  three  great  codes  were  afterward  combined  in 
the  Pentateuch.  Thus  this  scheme  of  reconstruction  of 
Old  Testament  legislation  and  religion  adopted  by  such 
a  large  number  of  critics  resembles  in  a  most  remarkable 
degree  the  reconstruction  of  the  New  Testament  his- 
tory and  doctrine  proposed  by  Baur ;  namely,  two  an- 
tagonistic and  irreconcilable  forces  resulting  in  a  final 
system  above  them  both. 

With  reference  to  the  three  codes  and  sections  of  the 
Pentateuch,  evangelical  men  should  not  fail  to  recognize 
them.  They  correspond  in  a  remarkable  manner  with 
the  various  presentations  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus.  And 
so  the  great  types  such  as  we  find  in  the  Prophetic, 
Priestly,  and  Chokma  writings  are  clearly  defined,  cor- 
responding closely  with  the  Petrine,  Pauline,  and  the 
Johannean  types  of  the  New  Testament.  The  corre- 
spondence goes  even  farther,  in  that,  as  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tian type  is  divided  in  twain  by  the  gospels  of  Mark  and 
Matthew,  and  by  the  apostles  Peter  and  James,  so  the 
prophetic  type  breaks  up  into  the  Psalmists  and  the 


*  See  the  articles  :  The  Theory  c/ Professor  Kuerten,  by  the  Rev.  T.  \V.  Cham- 
bers, D.D.,  in  the  Presbyterian  Review,  1880,  p.  304,  seq. ;  The  Critical  Theo- 
ries of  Julius  U'ellhausen,  by  Prof.  Henry  P.  Smith,  in  the  same  Review,  1882, 
P-  357.  s^l-  :  and  Critical  Study  of  the  History  of  the  Higher  Criticism,  in  the 
same  Review,  1883,  p.  69,  seq. 


388  BIBLICAL  bTUDY. 

Prophets.  The  three  great  types  must  be  recognized 
in  the  Old  Testament  from  the  Thora  onward,  extend- 
ing through  the  histories,  prophets,  and  poetical  books 
and  other  writings,  as  in  the  New  Testament  the  types 
are  recognized  from  the  gospels  through  the  book  of 
Acts  to  the  Epistles  and  Apocalypse.  The  school  of 
Kuenen  and  Wellhausen  regard  them  as  antagonistic  as 
are  the  parties  in  Church  and  State  in  our  own  day,  the 
history  and  religion  having  a  purely  natural  develop- 
ment. Evangelical  exegetes  will,  in  the  main,  deal  with 
the  Old  Testament  as  they  have  done  with  the  New 
Testament  under  the  lead  of  Neander,  Schmid,  and 
Oehler,  and  recognize  the  variation  of  type  in  order  to 
a  more  complete  and  harmonious  representation  as  they 
combine  under  the  supernatural  influence  of  a  divine 
progressive  revelation. 

Recent  works  on  New  Testament  theology  have  de- 
voted themselves  more  to  a  study  of  the  particular  types 
with  reference  to  their  psychological  development  out 
of  the  condition  of  mind  and  historical  position  and 
training  of  the  various  New  Testament  writers.  Immer  * 
restates  the  positions  of  the  school  of  Baur,  but  with 
the  important  advance  that  he  traces  the  various  stages 
of  the  development  of  the  Pauline  theology  itself  with 
considerable  industry  and  skill,  so  Pfleiderer,f    Sabatier,:|: 

*  Theo.  d.  N.  T.,  1877. 

t  It  was  natural  that  the  theology  of  Paul  should  receive  at  first  the  closest 
examination.  Ustcri,  Entwickelung  des  PauUniscJien  Lehrbegriffes,  1829,  6te 
Aud.,  1851,  is  a  classic  work  r  followed  by  Dahne,  Entwickelung  des  Paulin- 
isc/ien  Lehrbep-iffs,  1835 ;  Baur,  Paulus  der  Apostcl  Jcsu  Christi,  1845,  zte 
Aufl.,  1866 ;  Opitz  (H.),  System  des  Paulus,  1874. 

X  L'Apotre  Paul  esquisse  d'une  Histoire  de  sa  Pensie,  1870.  Deuxi^me  edi- 
tion revue  et  augmentee,  1881,  Paris.  He  finds  the  origin  of  Paul's  theology 
in  the  combination  of  the  three  facts — ^his  Pharisaism  which  he  left,  the  Chris- 
tian church  which  he  entered,  and  the  conversion  by  which  he  passed  from  the 
one  to  the  other.  He  then  traces  the  genesis  of  the  Pauline  theology  in  three 
periods. 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  359 

and  especially  Holsten,*  who  strives  to  derive  the  pecu- 
liarity of  the  doctrine  of  Paul  out  of  his  consciousness 
rather  than  from  the  vision  and  ChrLstophany  on  the  way 
to  Damascus.f  _  Thoma:}:  strives  to  explain  the  theology 
of  John  as  a  development  out  of  the  struggling  doctrinal 
conceptions  of  Judaism  and  Alexandrianism.  §  These, 
then,  are  the  two  points  on  which  Biblical  Theology  may 
be  expected  to  make  a  new  advance:  (i)  in  the  relation 
of  the  variety  of  types  to  one  another  and  to  their 
unity;  (2)  in  the  origin  and  development  of  the  particu 
lar  types. 

We  have  thus  far  distinguished  two  stages  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  discipline  of  Biblical  Theology.  Gab- 
ler  first  stated  its  historical  principle  and  distinguished 
it  from  Systematic  Theology.  Neander  then  distin- 
guished its  variety  of  types,  and  Schmid  stated  its  exe- 
getical  principle  and  distinguished  it  from  Historical 
Theology  as  a  part  of  Exegetical  Theology.  We  are 
about  to  enter  upon  a  third  stage  in  which  Biblical  The- 
ology, as  the  point  of  contact  of  Exegetical  Theology 
with  the  three  other  great  sections  of  Theological  Ency- 
clopaedia, will  show  the  true  relation  of  its  various  types 
to  one  organic  system  of  divine  truth,  will  trace  them 


*  Zum  Evangelium  des  Paultts  u.  d.  Peirus,  1868  /  Evangelium  des  Paulus, 
1880. 

t  Prof.  A.  B.  Brnoe,  of  Glasgow,  in  his  article  on  PauPs  Conversion  and  the 
Pauline  Gospel,  in  the  Pres.  Review,  1880,  p.  652,  seq.,  ably  discusses  these 
theories,  cind  shows  the  connection  of  Pauline  theology  with  the  supernatural 
event  of  the  Christophany  and  the  apostle's  consequent  conversion. 

X  Die  Genesis  des  jfohannes  Evangelium,  1882. 

§  Other  sjjecial  writers  upon  particular  types  are :  Riehm's  Lehrbegriff  des 
Hebraerbrie/s,  1867 ;  K.  R.  Kostlin,  Lehrbegriff  des  Evang.  und  der  Brie/e 
Johannes,  1845  ;  B.  Weiss,  Petrinische  Lehrbegriff,  1855  ;  Johanneische 
Lehrbegriff,  1862;  Zschokke,  Theologie  der  Prophet  en  des  Alt  en  Testaments, 
1877 ;  W.  Schmidt,  Lehrgehalt  des  Jacobus  Briefes,  1869 ;  H.  Gebhardt,  Lehr- 
begriff  der  Apokaljpse,  1873. 


390  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

each  and  all  to  their  supernatural  origin  and  direction  as 
distinguished  from  the  ordinary  types  of  human  think- 
ing ;  and  thus  will  act  as  a  conserving  and  a  reconciling 
force  in  the  theology  of  the  last  quarter  of  our  century. 
Step  by  step  Biblical  Theology  has  advanced  in  the 
progress  of  exegetical  studies.  It  is  and  must  be  an  ag- 
gressive discipline.  It  has  a  fourfold  work :  of  removing 
the  rubbish  that  Scholasticism  has  piled  upon  the  Word 
of  God ;  of  battling  with  Rationalism  for  its  principles, 
methods,  and  products ;  of  resisting  the  seductions  of 
Mysticism ;  and  of  building  up  an  impregnable  system 
of  sacred  truth.  As  the  Jews  returning  from  their  exile 
built  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  working  with  one  hand,  and 
with  the  other  grasping  a  weapon,  so  must  Biblical  schol- 
ars build  up  the  system  of  Biblical  Theology,  until  they 
have  erected  a  structure  of  Biblical  truth  containing 
the  unity  in  the  variety  of  Divine  Revelation,  a  -struct- 
ure compacted  through  the  fitting  together  of  all  the  gems 
of  sacred  truth  according  to  the  adaptation  of  a  divine 
prearrangement. 

IV.  THE  POSITION  AND   IMPORTANCE  OF  BIBLICAL 

THEOLOGY. 

Having  considered  the  origin  and  history  of  Biblical 
Theology,  we  are  now  prepared  to  show  its  position  and 
importance,  and  define  it  as  to  its  idea,  method,  and  sys- 
tem, (i)  The  idea  of  Biblical  Theology. — Biblical  The- 
ology is  that  theological  dfscipline  which  presents  the 
theology  of  the  Bible  in  its  historical  formation  within 
the  canonical  writings.  The  discipline  limits  itself 
strictly  to  the  theology  of  the  Bible,  and  thus  excludes 
from  its-  range  the  theology  of  the  Apocryphal  and  Pseu- 
depigraphical  writings  of  the  Jewish  and  Christian  sects, 
the  ideas  of  the  various  external  religious  parties,  and 


BIBLICAL  TDEOLOGY.  39]^ 

the  religions  of  the  world  brought  in  contact  with  the 
people  of  God  at  different  periods  in  their  history.  It 
is  true  that  these  must  come  into  consideration  for  com- 
parative purposes  in  order  to  show  their  influence  posi- 
tively and  negatively  upon  the  development  of  Biblical 
doctrine ;  for  the  Biblical  religion  is  a  religion  in  the 
midst  of  a  great  variety  of  religions  of  the  world,  and 
its  distinctive  features  can  be  shown  only  after  the  elim- 
ination of  the  features  that  are  common  with  other  re- 
ligions. We  must  show  from  the  historical  circumstances, 
the  psychological  preparations,  and  all  the  conditioning 
influences,  how  far  the  origin  and  development  of  the 
particular  type  and  the  particular  stage  of  religious  de- 
velopment of  Israel  and  the  Church  were  influenced  by 
these  external  forces.  We  must  find  the  supernatural 
influence  that  originated  and  maintained  the  Biblical 
types  and  the  Biblical  religion  as  distinct  and  separate 
from  all  other  religions.  And  then  these  other  religious 
forces  will  not  be  employed  as  co-ordinate  factors  with 
the  Biblical  material,  as  is  done  by  Reuss,  Schwegler, 
and  Kuenen,  who  make  Biblical  Theology  simply  a  his- 
tory of  religion,  or  of  doctrine  in  the  times  of  the  Bible 
and  in  the  Jewish  nation.  Rather  these  theological  con- 
ceptions of  other  religions  will  be  seen  to  be  subordinate 
factors  as  influencing  Biblical  Theology  from  without, 
and  not  from  within,  as  presenting  the  external  occa- 
sions and  conditions  of  its  growth,  and  not  its  normal 
and  regulative  principles.  The  Biblical  limit  will  be 
maintained  ;  for  the  Biblical  material  stands  apart  by 
itself,  in  that  the  theology  therein  contained  is  the 
theology  of  a  divine  Revelation,  and  thus  distinguished 
from  all  other  theologies,  both  as  to  its  origin  and  its 
development;  for  they  give  us  either  the  products  of 
natural  religion  in  various   normal   and  abnormal   sys- 


392  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

terns,  originating  and  developing  under  the  influence  of 
unguided  or  partially  guided  human  religious  strivings, 
or  else  are  apostasies  or  deflections  from  the  religion  of 
revelation  in  its  various  stages  of  development. 

The  discipline  we  have  defined  as  presenting  the  The- 
ology of  the  Bible.  It  is  true  that  the  term  Biblical  The- 
ology is  ambiguous  as  being  too  broad,  having  been  em- 
ployed as  a  general  term  including  Biblical  Introduction, 
Hermeneutics,  and  so  on.  And  yet  we  must  have  a  broad 
term,  for  we  cannot  limit  our  discipline  \.o  Dogmatics,  for 
Biblical  Dogmatics,  as  rightly  conceived,  is  a  part  of  Sys- 
tematic Theology,  being  a priorz  and  deductive  in  method. 
Biblical  Dogmatics  deduces  the  dogmas  from  the  Bibli- 
cal material  and  arranges  them  in  an  a  priori  dogmatic 
system,  presenting  not  so  much  the  doctrines  of  the 
Bible  in  their  simplicity  and  in  their  concrete  form  as 
they  are  given  in  the  Scriptures  themselves,  but  such 
doctrines  as  may  be  fairly  derived  from  the  Biblical  ma- 
terial by  the  logical  process,  or  can  be  gained  by  setting  the 
Bible  in  the  midst  of  philosophy  and  church  tradition.  We 
cannot  deny  to  this  department  the  propriety  of  using 
the  name  Biblical  Dogmatics  or  even  Biblical  Theology. 
For  where  a  Dogmatic  system  derives  its  chief  or  only 
material  from  the  Scriptures  there  is  fdrce  in  its  claim 
to  be  Biblical  Theology,  We  do  not,  therefore,  use  the 
term  Biblical  Theology  as  applied  to  our  discipline  with 
the  implication  that  a  dogmatic  system  derived  from  the 
Bible  is  ;w«-Biblical  or  not  sufficiently  Biblical,  but  as  a 
term  which  has  come  to  be  applied  to  the  discipline 
which  we  are  now  distinguishing  from  Biblical  Dogmat- 
ics. Biblical  Theology,  in  the  sense  of  our  discipline, 
and  as  distinguished  from  Biblical  Dogmatics,  cannot 
take  a  step  beyond  the  Bible  itself,  or,  indeed,  beyond 
the  particular  writing  or  author  under  consideration  at 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  393 

the  time.  Biblical  Theology  has  to  do  only  with  the 
sacred  author's  conceptions,  and  has  nothing  whatever 
to  do  with  the  legitimate  logical  consequences.  It  is 
not  to  be  assumed  that  either  the  author  or  his  genera- 
tion argued  out  the  consequences  of  their  statements, 
still  less  discerned  them  by  intuition ;  although,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  must  always  recognize  that  the  religion 
and,  indeed,  the  entire  theolog)'  of  a  period  or  an  au- 
thor may  be  far  wider  and  more  comprehensive  than  the 
record  or  records  that  have  been  left  of  it ;  and  that,  in 
all  eases.  Biblical  Theology  will  give  us  the  niinimutn 
rather  than  the  maximum  of  the  theology  of  a  period  or 
author.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  we  must  also  estimate 
the  fact  that  this  minimum  is  the  inspired  authority  to 
which  alone  we  can  appeal.  The  only  consequences 
with  which  Biblical  Theology  has  to  do  are  those  his- 
torical ones  that  later  Biblical  writers  gained  in  their  ad- 
vanced knowledge  of  divine  revelation,  those  conclusions 
that  are  true  historically — whatever  our  subjective  con- 
clusions may  be  as  to  the  legitimate  logical  results  of 
their  statements.  And  even  here  the  interpretation  and 
use  of  later  writers  are  not  to  be  assigned  to  the  authors 
themselves  or  the  theology  of  their  times.  We  would 
therefore  urge  that  the  term  Biblical  Dogmatics  should 
be  applied  to  that  part  of  Dogmatics  which  rests  upon 
the  Bible  and  derives  its  material  from  the  Bible  by  the 
legitimate  use  of  its  principles.  Dogmatics  as  a  theo- 
logical discipline,  in  our  judgment,  is  far  wider  than  the 
Biblical  material  that  is  employed  by  the  dogmatician. 
The  Biblical  material  should  be  the  normal  and  regula- 
tive material,  but  the  dogmatician  will  make  use  of  the 
deductions  from  the  Bible  and  other  authorities  that  the 
church  has  made  in  the  history  of  doctrine  and  incor- 
porated in  her  creeds,  or  preserved  in  the  doctrinal  treat- 
17* 


39i  BIBLICAL  STUDF. 

ises  of  the  theologians.  He  will  also  make  use  of  right 
reason,  and  of  philosophy,  and  science,  and  the  religious 
consciousness  as  manifest  in  the  history  of  the  church 
and  in  the  Christian  life  of  the  day.  It  is  all-important 
that  the  various  sources  should  be  carefully  discriminated, 
and  the  Biblical  material  set  apart  by  itself  in  Biblical 
Dogmatics,  lest  in  the  commingling  of  material  that 
should  be  regarded  as  Biblical  which  is  «^«-Biblical,  or 
extra  Biblical,  or  contra  Biblical,  as  has  so  often  hap- 
pened in  the  working  of  ecclesiastical  tradition.  And, 
even  then,  when  Biblical  Dogmatics  has  been  distin- 
guished in  Systematic  Theology,  it  should  be  held  apart 
from  Biblical  Theology,  for  Biblical  Dogmatics  is  the 
point  of  contact  of  Systematic  Theology  with  Exegeti- 
cal  Theology,  and  Biblical  Theology  is  the  point  of  con- 
tact of  Exegetical  Theology  with  Systematic  Theology, 
each  belonging  to  its  own  distinctive  branch  of  theolo- 
gy, with  its  characteristic  methods  and  principles.  That 
system  of  theology  which  would  anxiously  confine  it- 
self to  supposed  Biblical  material,  to  the  neglect  of  the 
npaterial  presented  by  philosophy,  science,  literature, 
art,  comparative  religion,  the  history  of  doctrine,  the 
symbols,  the  liturgies,  and  the  life  of  the  church,  and 
the  pious  religious  consciousness  of  the  individual  or  of 
Christian  society,  must  be  extremely  defective,  unscien- 
tific, and  cannot  make  up  for  its  defects  by  an  appeal  to 
the  Scriptures  and  a  claim  to  be  Biblical.  None  of  the 
great  systematic  theologians,  from  the  most  ancient 
times  have  ever  proposed  any  such  course.  It  has  been 
the  resort  of  the  feebler  Pietists  in  Germany,  and  of  the 
narrower  Evangelicalism  of  Great  Britain  and  America, 
doomed  to  defeat  and  destruction,  for  working  in  such 
contracted  lines. 

We  do  not,  therefore,  present  Biblical  Theology  as  a 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  395 

substitute  for  Systematic  Theology.  Systematic  Theol- 
ogy is  more  comprehensive  than  Biblical  Theology  can 
ever  be.  But  we  urge  the  importance  of  Biblical  Theol- 
ogy in  order  to  the  important  distinction  that  should  be 
made,  in  the  first  place,  between  the  Biblical  sources  and 
all  other  sources  of  Theology,  and  then,  in  the  second 
place,  to  distinguish  between  the  Biblical  Theology  as 
presented  in  the  Scriptures  themselves,  and  Biblical 
Dogmatics  which  makes  legitimate  deductions  and  appli- 
cations of  the  Biblical  material. 

But  Biblical  Theology  is  wider  than  the  doctrines  of 
the  Bible.  It  includes  Ethics  also.  Here  the  school  of 
Baur  and  even  Weiss  and  Van  Oosterzee  would  stop. 
But  Schmid,  Schultz,  and  Oehler  are  correct  in  taking 
Biblical  Theology  to  include  religion  as  well  as  doc- 
trines and  morals,  that  is,  those  historic  persons,  facts, 
and  relations  which  embody  religious,  dogmatical,  and 
ethical  ideas.  This  discrimination  is  important  in  System- 
atic Theology,  but  it  is  indispensable  in  Biblical  Theol- 
ogy where  everything  is  still  in  the  concrete.  Thus  a 
fundamental  question  in  the  theology  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, is  what  to  do  with  the  life  of  Jesus.  The  life  of 
Jesus  is,  as  Schmid  shows,  the  fruitful  source  of  His 
doctrine,  and  a  theology  which  does  not  estimate  it, 
lacks  foundation  and  vital  power.  The  life  of  Jesus  may 
indeed  be  regarded  from  two  distinct  points  of  view,  as 
a  biographical,  or  a  doctrinal  and  religious  subject.  The 
birth  of  Jesus  may  be  regarded  as  a  pure  historical  fact 
or  as  an  incarnation.  His  suffering  and  death  may  be 
historical  subjects,  or  as  expressing  atonement.  His  life 
may  afford  biographical  matter  or  be  considered  as  re- 
ligious, doctrinal,  and  ethical,  in  that  His  life  was  a  new 
religious  force,  a  redemptive  influence  and  an  ethical 
example.    Biblical  Theology  will  have  to  consider,  there- 


396  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

fore,  what  the  life  of  Jesus  presents  for  its  various  de- 
partments. And  so  the  great  fact  of  Pentecost,  the 
Christophanies  to  Peter,  Paul,  and  John,  and  the  apos- 
tolic council  at  Jerusalem  must  all  be  brought  into 
consideration.  And  in  the  Old  Testament  we  must 
consider  the  various  covenants  and  the  religious  insti- 
tutions and  laws  that  were  grouped  about  them.  With- 
out religion,  with  its  persons,  events,  and  institutions, 
Biblical  Theology  would  lose  its  foundations ,  and  without 
ethical  results  it  would  fail  of  its  rich  fruitage. 

We  state,  furthermore,  that  the  discipline  presents 
the  theology  of  the  Bible  in  its  historical  formation. 
This  does  not  imply  that  it  limits  itself  to  the  consider- 
ation of  the  various  particular  conceptions  of  the  various 
authors,  writings,  and  periods,  as  Weiss  and  even  Oehler 
maintain,  but  with  Schmid,  Messner,  Van  Oosterzee 
after  Neander  it  seeks  the  nnity  in  the  variety  ;  ascertains 
the  roots  of  the  divergencies,  traces  them  each  in  their 
separate  historical  development,  shows  them  co-operat- 
ing in  the  formation  of  one  organic  system.  For  Biblical 
Theology  would  not  present  a  mere  conglomerate  of 
heterogeneous  material  in  a  bundle  of  miscellaneous 
Hebrew  literature,  but  would  ascertain  whether  there  is 
not  some  principle  of  organization ;  and  it  finds  that 
principle  in  a  supernatural  divine  revelation  and  com- 
munication of  redemption  in  the  successive  covenants 
of  grace,  extending  through  many  centuries,  operating 
through  many  minds,  and  in  a  great  variety  of  literary 
styles,  employing  all  the  faculties  of  man  and  all  the 
types  of  human  nature,  in  order  to  the  accomplishment 
of  one  massive,  all-embracing  and  everlasting  Divine 
Word  adapted  to  every  age,  every  nation,  every  type  of 
character,  every  temperament  of  mankind  ;  the  whole 
world. 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  397 

(2)  The  Place  of  Biblical  Theology. — Biblical  Theology 
belongs  to  the  department  of  Exegetical  Theology  as  a 
higher  exegesis  completing  the  exegetical  process,  and 
presenting  the  essential  material  and  principles  of  the 
other  departments  of  theology. 

The  boundaries  between  Exegetical  and  Historical 
Theology  are  not  so  sharply  defined  as  those  between 
either  of  them  and  Systematic  Theology.  All  Histori- 
cal Theology  has  to  deal  with  sources,  and  in  this  respect 
must  consider  them  in  their  variety  and  unity  as  well  as 
development ;  and  hence  many  theologians  combine 
Exegetical  Theology  and  Historical  Theology  under 
one  head — Historical  Theology.  It  is  important,  how- 
ever, to  draw  the  distinction,  for  this  reason.  The 
sources  of  Biblical  Theology  are  in  different  relation 
from  the  sources  of  a  history  of  doctrine,  inasmuch  as 
they  constitute  a  body  of  divine  revelation,  and  in  this 
respect  to  be  kept  distinct  from  all  other  sources,  even 
cotemporary  and  of  the  same  nation.  They  have  an 
absolute  authority  which  no  other  sources  can  have.  The 
stress  is  to  be  laid  less  upon  their  historical  develop- 
ment than  upon  them  as  an  organic  body  of  revelation, 
and  this  stress  upon  their  importance  as  sources  not 
only  for  historical  development,  but  also  for  dogmatic 
reconstruction  and  practical  application,  requires  that 
the  special  study  of  them  should  be  exalted  to  a  separate 
discipline  and  a  distinct  branch  of  theology. 

Now  in  the  department  of  Exegetical  Theology,  Bib- 
lical Theology  occupies  the  highest  place,  the  latest 
and  crowning  achievement.  It  is  a  higher  exegesis 
completing  the  Exegetical  Process.  All  other  branches 
of  Exegetical  Theology  are  presupposed  by  it.  The 
Biblical  Literature  must  first  be  studied  as  sacred  liter- 
ature.    All  questions  of  date  of  writing,  integrity,  con- 


398  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

struction,  style,  and  authorship  must  be  determined  by 
the  principles  of  the  Higher  Criticism.  Biblical  Canonics 
determines  the  extent  and  authority  of  the  various 
writings  that  are  to  be  regarded  as  composing  the 
sacred  canon,  and  discriminates  them  from  all  other 
writings  by  the  criticism  of  the  believing  spirit  enlight- 
ened and  guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  Church. 
Biblical  Textual  Criticism  ascertains  the  true  text  of  the 
writings  in  the  study  of  MSS.  and  versions  and  citations, 
and  seeks  to  present  it  in  its  pure  primitive  forms. 
Biblical  Hermerfeutics  lays  down  the  rules  of  Biblical 
Interpretation,  and  Biblical  Exegesis  applies  these 
rules  to  the  various  particular  passages  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures.  Now  Biblical  Theology  accepts  all  these 
rules  and  results  thus  determined  and  applied.  It  is 
not  its  office  to  go  into  the  detailed  examination  of  the 
verse  and  the  section,  but  it  must  accept  the  results  of  a 
thorough  exegesis  and  criticism  in  order  to  advance 
thereon  and  thereby  to  its  own  proper  work  of  higher 
exegesis  ;  namely,  rising  from  the  comparison  of  verse 
with  verse,  and  paragraph  with  paragraph,  where  simple 
exegesis  is  employed,  to  the  still  more  difficult  and  in- 
structive comparison  of  writing  with  writing,  author  with 
author,  period  with  period,  until  by  generalization  and 
synthesis  the  theology  of  the  Bible  is  attained  as  an 
organic  whole. 

Biblical  Theology  is  thus  the  culmination  of  Exeget- 
ical  Theology,  and  must  be  in  an  important  relation  to 
all  other  branches  of  theology.  For  Historical  Theol- 
ogy it  presents  the  great  principles  of  the  various  periods 
of  history,  the  fundamental  and  controlling  tende/icies 
which,  springing  from  human  nature  and  operating  in 
all  the  religions  of  the  world,  find  their  proper  expres- 
sion  and  satisfaction   in   the  normal   development   of 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  399 

Divine  Revelation,  but  which,  breaking  loose  from  these 
salutary  bonds,  become  perverted  and  distorted  into 
abnormal  forms,  producing  false  and  heretical  principles 
and  radical  errors.  And  so  in  the  Biblical  unity  of  these 
tendencies  Biblical  Theology  presents  the  ideal  unity 
for  the  church  and  the  Christian  in  all  times  of  the 
world's  history.  For  Systematic  Theology,  Biblical 
Theology  affords  the  holy  material  to  be  used  in  Bibli- 
cal Apologetics,  Dogmatics,  and  Ethics,  the  funda- 
mental and  controlling  material  out  of  which  that 
systematic  structure  must  be  built  which  will  express 
the  intellectual  and  moral  needs  of  the  particular  age, 
fortify  the  church  for  offence  and  defence  in  the  strug- 
gles with  the  anti-Christian  world,  and  give  unity  to  its 
life,  its  efforts,  and  its  dogmas  in  all  ages.  For  Practical 
Theology  it  presents  the  various  types  of  religious  ex- 
perience and  of  doctrinal  and  ethical  ideas  which  must 
be  skilfully  applied  to  the  corresponding  differences  of 
type  which  exist  in  all  times,  in  all  churches,  in  all 
lands,  and  indeed  in  all  religions  and  races  of  mankind. 
Biblical  Theology  is  indeed  the  Irenic  force  which  will 
do  much  to  harmonize  the  antagonistic  forces  and  vari- 
ous departments  of  theology,  and  bring  about  that  toler- 
ation within  the  church  which  is  the  greatest  requisite  of 
our  times. 

(3)  Method  of  Biblical  Theology. — The  method  em- 
ployed by  Biblical  Theology  is  a  blending  of  the  genetic 
and  the  inductive  methods.  The  method  of  Biblical 
Theology  arises  out  of  the  nature  of  the  discipline  and 
its  place  in  Theological  Encyclopaedia.  As  it  must 
show  the  Theology  of  the  Bible  in  its  historic  formation, 
ascertain  its  genesis,  the  laws  of  its  development  from 
germinal  principles,  the  order  of  its  progress  in  every 
individual  writer,  and  from  writer  to  writer  and  age  to 


iOO  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

age  in  the  successive  periods  and  in  the  whole  Bible,  it 
must  employ  the  genetic  method.  It  is  this  genesis 
which  is  becoming  more  and  more  important  in  our  dis- 
cipline, and  is  indeed  the  chief  point  of  discussion  in  our 
day.  Can  all  be  explained  by  a  natural  genesis,  or  must 
the  supernatural  be  called  in  ?  The  various  Rationalistic 
efforts  to  explain  the  genesis  of  the  Biblical  types  of 
doctrine  in  their  variety  and  their  combination  in  a  unity 
in  the  Scriptures  are  extremely  unsatisfactory  and  un- 
scientific. With  all  the  resemblances  to  other  religions, 
the  Biblical  Religion  is  so  different  that  its  differences 
must  be  explained,  and  these  can  only  be  explained  by 
the  claims  of  the  sacred  writers  themselves,  that  God 
Himself  in  various  forms  of  Theophany  and  Chris- 
tophany  revealed  Himself  to  initiate  and  to  guide  the 
religion  of  the  Bible  in  its  various  movements  and 
stages.  Mosaism  centres  about  the  great  Theophany  of 
Sinai,  as  Christianity  centres  about  the  Resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ,  ditid  the  life,  death,  ascension,  and  second 
advent  therein  involved.  It  is  now  the  problem  of 
Biblical  Theology  as  it  has  traced  the  Theology  of  the 
Jewish  Christian  type  to  the  Theophany  of  Pentecost, 
and  of  the  Pauline  to  the  Christophany  on  the  way  to 
Damascus,  so  to  trace  the  Johannean  type  and  the  vari- 
ous Old  Testament  types  to  corresponding  supernatural 
initiation.  The  Johannean  type  may  be  traced  to  the 
Christophanies  of  Patmos.*  The  Old  Testament. is  full 
of  Theophanies  which  originate  particular  Covenants 
and  initiate  all  the  great  movements  in  the  history  of 
Israel. 


*  We  regard  the  Apocalypse  as  the  earliest  of  the  Johannean  writings.  The 
Christophanies  therein  described  had  been  granted  to  the  apostle  prior  to  the 
composition  of  the  Gospel,  so  that  the  Gospel  was  written  under  their  influence 
still  more  even  than  under  the  recollection  of  the  association  with  Jesus  during 
His  earthly  nunistry. 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  40I 

As  it  has  to  exhibit  the  unity  in  the  variety  of  the 
various  conceptions  and  statements  of  the  writings  and 
authors  of  every  different  type,  style,  and  character,  and 
by  comparison  generalize  to  its  results,  Biblical  Theol- 
ogy must  employ  the  inductive  method  and  the  synthet- 
ic process.  This  inductive  method  is  the  true  method 
of  Exegetical  Theology.  The  details  of  Exegesis  have 
been  greatly  enriched  by  this  method  during  the  present 
century,  especially  by  the  labors  of  German  divines,  and 
in  most  recent  times  by  numerous  laborers  in  Great 
Britain  and  America.  But  the  majority  of  the  laborers 
in  Biblical  Theology  have  devoted  their  strength  to 
the  working  out  of  the  historical  principle  of  our  disci- 
pline. Yet  within  the  various  types  and  special  doc- 
trines a  large  amount  of  higher  exegesis  has  been  ac- 
complished by  Weiss,  Riehm,  Schultz,  Diestel,  Weiffen- 
bach,  and  others.  But  the  highest  exegesis  in  the  com- 
parison of  types  and  their  arrangement  in  an  organic 
system  with  a  unity  and  determining  principle  out  of 
which  all  originate  and  to  which  they  return  their  fruit- 
age, remains  comparatively  undeveloped.  Indeed  the 
study  of  the  particular  types,  especially  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, must  be  conducted  still  further  and  to  more 
substantial  results  ere  the  highest  exegesis  can  fulfil  its 
task. 

The  genetic  and  the  inductive  methods  must  indeed 
combine  in  order  to  the  best  results.  They  must  co-op- 
erate in  every  writing,  in  the  treatment  of  every  author, 
of  every  period  and  of  the  whole.  They  must  blend  in 
harmony  throughout.  On  their  proper  combination  the 
excellence  of  a  system  of  Biblical  Theology  depends. 
An  undue  emphasis  of  either  will  make  the  system  de- 
fective and  inharmonious. 

(4)    The  system  a?id  divisions  of  Biblical  Theology. — 


402  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

These  are  determined  partly  by  the  material  itself,  but 
chiefly  by  the  methods  of  dealing  with  it.  We  must  make 
the  divisions  so  simple  that  they  imay  be  adapted  to  the 
most  elementary  conceptions,  and  yet  comprehensive 
enough  to  embrace  the  most  fully  developed  conceptions, 
and  also  so  as  to  be  capable  of  a  simple  and  natural 
subdivision  in  the  advancing  periods.  In  order  to  this 
we  must  find  the  dominant  principle  of  the  entire  revela- 
tion and  make  our  historical  and  our  inductive  divisions 
in  accordance  with  it.  The  Divine  revelation  itself 
might  seem  to  be  this  determining  factor,  so  that  we 
should  divide  historically  by  the.  historical  development 
of  that  revelation,  and  synthetically  by  its  most  charac- 
teristic features.  But  this  divine  revelation  was  made 
to  intelligent  man  and  involved  thereby  an  active  appro- 
priation of  it  on  his  part,  both  as  to  its  form  and  sub- 
stance, so  that  from  this  point  of  view  we  might  divide 
historically  in  accordance  with .  the  great  epochs  of  the 
appropriation  of  divine  revelation,  and  synthetically  by 
the  characteristic  features  of  that  appropriation.  From 
either  of  these  points  of  view,  however,  there  might  be 
— there  naturally  would  be,  an  undue  emphasis  of  the 
one  over  against  the  other  at  the  expense  of  a  complete 
and  harmonious  representation.  We  need  some  princi- 
ple that  will  enable  us  to  combine  the  subject  and  the 
object — God  and  man — in  the  unity  of  its  conception. 
Such  a  principle  is  happily  afforded  us  in  the  Revelation 
itself,  so  distinctly  brought  out  that  it  has  been  histori- 
cally recognized  in  the  names  given  to  the  two  great  sec- 
tions of  the  Scriptures,  the  Old  and  the  New  Testa- 
ments or  Covenants.  The  Covenant  is  the  fundamental 
principle  of  the  divine  revelation,  to  which  the  divine 
revelation  commits  its  treasures  and  from  which  man  con- 
tinually draws  upon  them.    The  Covenant  has  a  great 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  403 

variety  of  forms  in  the  sacred  Scriptures,  but  the  most 
essential  and  comprehensive  form  is  that  assumed  in  the 
Mosaic  Covenant  at  Sinai  which  becomes  the  Old  Cove- 
nant^ pre-eminently,  and  over  against  that  is  placed  the 
Nezv  Covenant  of  the  Messiah  Jesus  Christ,  so  that  the 
great  historical  division  becomes  the  Theology  of  the  Old 
Covenant  and  the  Theology  of  the  New  Covenant. 

The  Covenant  must  also  determine  the  synthetic  divis- 
ions. The  Covenant  is  a  union  and  communion  ef- 
fected between  God  and  Man.  It  involves  a  personal 
relationship  which  it  originates  and  maintains  by  certain 
events  and  institutions.  This  is  Religion.  The  Cove- 
nant and  its  relations,  man  apprehends  as  an  intelligent 
being  with  meditation,  reflection,  and  reasoning.  All 
this  he  comprehends  in  doctrines,  which  he  apprehends 
and  believes  and  maintains  as  his  faith.  These  doctrines 
will  embrace  the  three  general  topics  of  God,  oi  Man, 
and  of  Redemption.  The  Covenant  still  further  has  to 
do  with  man  as  a  moral  being,  imposing  moral  obliga- 
tions upon  him  with  reference  to  God  and  man  and  the 
creatures  of  God.  All  these  are  comprehended  under 
the  general  term  Ethics.  These  distinctions  apply 
equally  well  to  all  the  periods  of  divine  revelation ; 
they  are  simple,  they  are  comprehensive,  they  are  all- 
pervading.  Indeed  they  interpenetrate  one  another,  so 
that  many  prefer  to  combine  the  three  under  the  one 
term  Theology,  and  then  treat  of  God  and  Man  and  the 
union  of  God  and  Man  in  redemption,  in  each  division 
by  itself  with  reference  to  religious,  ethical,  and  doc- 
trinal questions ;  but  it  is  easier  and  more  thorough-go- 
ing to  keep  them  apart,  even  at  the  expense  of  looking 
at  the  same  thing  at  times  successively  from  three  dif- 
ferent points  of  view. 

From  these  more  generaCl  divisions  we  may  advance  ^o 


4.04  BIBUCAL  STUDY. 

such  subdivisions,  as  may  be  justified  in  the  successive 
periods  of  Biblical  Theology,  both  on  the  historic  and 
synthetic  sides,  and,  indeed,  without  anticipation. 

The  relation  between  the  historical  and  the  synthetic 
divisions  may  be  variously  viewed.  Thus  Ewald,  in  his 
Biblical  Theology,  makes  the  historical  divisions  so  en- 
tirely subordinate  as  to  treat  of  each  topic  of  theology 
by  itself  in  its  history.  The  difficulty  of  this  method  is, 
that  it  does  not  sufficiently  show  the  relative  develop- 
ment of  doctrines,  and  their  constant  action  and  reaction 
upon  one  another  in  the  successive  periods.  It  may 
be  of  advantage  for  thoroughness  in  anyone  department 
to  take  that  topic  by  itself  and  work  it  out  in  its  histori- 
cal development ;  but  in  a  comprehensive  course  of  Bib- 
lical Theology  the  interests  of  the  whole  cannot  be  sac- 
rificed for  the  particular  sections.  They  must  be  ad- 
justed to  one  another  in  their  historical  development  in 
the  particular  periods.  Hence  it  will  be  necessary  to 
determine  in  each  period:  (i)  the  development  of  each 
particular  doctrine  by  itself,  as  it  starts  from  the  gen- 
eral principle,  and  then  (2)  to  sum  up  the  general  results 
before  passing  over  into  another  period. 

It  will  also  be  found  that  Theology  does  not  unfold 
in  one  single  line,  but  in  several,  from  several  different 
points  of  view,  and  in  accordance  with  several  different 
types.  It  will  therefore  be  necessary  on  the  one  side 
ever  to  keep  these  types  distinct,  and  yet  to  show  their 
unity  as  one  organism.  Thus  in  the  Pentateuch  the 
great. types  of  the  Jahvist,  the  two  Elohists,  and  the  Deu- 
teronomist,  will  be  distinctly  traced  until  they  combine 
in  the  one  organism  of  our  Pentateuch,  presenting  the 
fundamental  Thorak  of  Israel.  In  the  historical  books 
the  Prophetic  and  Levitical  historians  will  be  distin- 
guished and  compared  for  a 'higher  unity.    The  three 


BIBLICAL  THEOLOGY.  405 

great  types — the  psalmists,  wise  men,  and  prophets — 
will  be  discriminated,  the  variations  within  the  types 
carefully  studied  and  compared,  and  then  the  types 
themselves  brought  into  harmony,  and  at  last  the  whole 
Old  Testament  presented  as  an  organic  whole.  The  New 
Testament  will  then  be  considered  in  the  forerunners 
of  Christ ;  then  the  four  types  in  which  the  evangelists 
present  the  Theology  of  Jesus,  each  by  itself,  in  com- 
parison with  the  others,  and  as  a  whole.  The  Apostolic 
Theology  will  be  traced  from  its  origin  at  Pentecost  in 
its  subsequent  division  into  the  three  great  types,  the 
Jewish  Christian  of  Peter,  James  and  Jude;  the  Gentile 
Christian  of  Paul,  Luke,  and  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews; 
and,  finally,  the  Johannean  of  the  gospels,  epistle,  and 
apocalypse  of  John ;  and  the  whole  considered  in  the 
unity  of  the  New  Testament ;  and  then;  as  the  last 
thing,  the  whole  Bible  will  be  considered,  showing  not 
only  the  unity  of  the  theology  of  Christ  and  His  apos- 
tles, but  also  of  the  unity  of  the  theology  of  Moses  and 
David  and  all  the  prophets,  with  the  theology  of  Jesus 
and  His- apostles,  as  each  distinct  theology  takes  its 
place  in  the  advancing  system  of  divine  revelation,  all 
conspiring  to  the  completion  of  a  perfect,  harmonious, 
symmetrical  organism,  the  infallible  expression  of  God's 
will,  character,  and  being  to  His  favored  children.  At 
the  same  time,  the  religion  of  each  period  and  of  the 
whole  Bible  will  be  set  in  the  midst  of  the  other  relig- 
ions of  the  world,  so  that  it  will  appear  as  the  divine 
grace  ever  working  in  humanity,  and  its  sacred  records 
as  the  true  lamp  of  the  world,  holding  forth  the  light  of 
life  to  all.  the  nations  of  the  world. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE  SCRIPTURES  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE. 

The  essential  principle  of  the  Calvinistic  system  of  the- 
ology is  redemption  by  the  divine  grace  alone.  The 
Reformed  churches  have  ever  been  distinguished  for 
their  intense  interest  in  the  covenant  of  grace.  Some- 
times the  divine  grace  has  been  hardened  by  an  undue 
stress  upon  the  sovereignty  of  it,  so  that  sovereignty  has 
taken  the  place  of  the  divine  grace  as  the  central  princi- 
ple of  theology  in  some  of  the  scholastic  systems ;  and 
sometimes  the  divine  grace  has  been  softened  by  an  un- 
due emphasis  upon  the  Fatherhood  of  God.  But  even 
in  these  more  extreme  tendencies  of  Calvinism  the  es- 
sential principle,  of  the  divine  grace  alone  has  not  been 
abandoned,  however  little  any  of  the  systems  have  com- 
prehended the  richness  and  the  fulness  of  the  "grace  of 
God  that  bringeth  salvation  "  (Titus  ii.  ii). 

Redemption  by  the  divine  grace  alone  is  the  banner 
principle  of  the  Reformed  churches,  designed  to  exclude 
the  uncertainty  and  arbitrariness  attached  to  all  human 
instrumentalities  and  external  agencies.  As  the  banner 
principle  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation  was  justification 
by  faith  alone  excluding  any  merit  or  agency  of  human 
works,  so  the  Calvinistic  principle  excluded  any  inherent 
efficacy,  in  human  nature  or  in  external  remedies,  for 
overcoming  the  guilt  of  sin  and  working  redemption. 
(406) 


THE  SCRIPTURES  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE.  407 

In  these  two  principles  lie  the  chief  merits  and  the  chief 
defects  of  the  two  great  churches  of  the  Reformation. 
Intermediate  between  these  principles  of  faith  alone  and 
grace  alone,  lies  a  third  principle,  which  is  the  divine 
word  alone.  This  principle  we  conceive  to  have  been 
emphasized  in  the  Reformation  of  Great  Britain  and  es- 
pecially in  the  Puritan  churches.  The  Word  of  God  has 
been  called  the  formal  principle  of  Protestantism  over 
against  faith  alone,  the  material  principle,  and  it  has 
been  said  that  the  Reformed  churches  have  laid  more  stress 
upon  the  formal  principle,  while  the  Lutheran  churches 
have  laid  more  stress  upon  the  material  principle.  This 
does  not,  in  our  judgment,  correspond  with  the  facts  of 
the  case.  Rather  is  it  true  that  in  the  three  great 
churches  of  the  Reformation,  the  three  principles, 
faith,  grace,  and  the  divine  word,  were  emphasized  over 
against  the  errors  of  Rome ;  but  these  churches  differed 
in  the  relative  importance  they  ascribed  to  one  of 
these  three  principles  of  the  Reformation  in  its  rela- 
tion to  the  other  two.  The  Word  of  God  is  the  in- 
termediate principle  where  faith  and  grace  meet.  The 
Word  of  God  gives  faith  its  appropriate  object.  The 
Word  of  God  is  the  appointed  instrument  or  means  of 
grace. 

I.   THE   GOSPEL  IN  THE    SCRIPTURES. 

The  Word  of  God  as  a  means  of  grace,  as  a  principle 
of  the  Reformation,  has,  however,  its  technical  meaning. 
It  is  not  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
in  their  entirety,  but  rather  the  Gospel  contained  in  the 
Scriptures : 

"  The  Holy  Gospel  which  God  Himself  first  revealed  in  Paradise, 
afterwards  proclaimed  by  the  Holy  Patriarchs  and  Prophets,  and 


408  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

toreshadowed  by  the  sacrifices  and  other  ceremonies  of  the  law  and 
finally  fulfilled  by  His  well-beloved  Son."  * 

The  merit  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation  was  that  it  so 
distinctly  set  forth  the  means  by  which  man  appropri- 
ates the  grace  of  the  Gospel — by  faith  alone.  Faith  is 
the  sole  appropriating  instrument  and  it  becomes  a  test 
of  the  Word  of  God  itself,  for  faith  having  appropriated 
the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  is  enabled  to  determine 
therefrom  what  is  the  Word  of  God  and  what  is  not  the 
Word  of  God. 

As  Luther  said : 

"  All  right  holy  books  agree  in  this  that  they  altogether  preach 
and  urge  Christ,  This  also  is  the  true  touchstone  to  test  all  books, 
when  one  sees  whether  they  so  urge  Christ  or  not,  since  every  script- 
ure shews  Christ  (Rom.  iii.  21),  and  St.  Paul  will  know  nothing  but 
Christ  (i  Cor.  ii.  2)  ;  what  does  not  teach  Christ  that  is  not  yet  apos- 
tolical, even  if  St.  Paul  or  St.  Peter  taught  it ;  on  the  other  hand, 
what  preaches  Christ  would  be  apostolical,  even  if  Judas,  Annas,  Pi- 
late, and  Herod  did  it."  + 

The  merit  of  the  Calvinistic  Reformation  is  that  it  so 
distinctly  set  forth  the  means  by  which  God  accom- 
plishes human  redemption — by  the  divine  grace  of  the 
Gospel.  The  divine  grace  is  the  sole  efficacious  instru- 
ment of  redemption,  and  this  grace  becomes  itself  a  test 
of  the  true  Word  of  God.  The  divine  grace  in  the 
Scriptures  gives  its  witness  for  the  Scriptures,  discrimi- 
nating the  true  canon  from  all  other  books. 

"  We  know  these  books  to  be  canonical,  and  the  sure  rule  of  our 
faith  not  so  much  by  the  common  accord  and  consent  of  the  church, 
as  by  the  testimony  and  inward  illumination  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which 
enables  us  to  distinguish  them  from  other  ecclesiastical  books,  upon 
which,  however  useful,  we  cannot  found  any  article  of  faith."  J 


* //eide/L  Caf.,  QaesL  19. 

t  Vorred.  zu  Epist.  Jacobus;  Walch,  xiv.,  p.  149. 

\  French  Confession^  Art.  iv. 


THE  SCRIPTURES  AS  A  ME.VNS  OF  GRACE.  409 

It  was  the  merit  of  the  British  Reformation  from  the 
beginning  that,  it  laid  such  stress  on  the  divine  Word 
alone,  and  it  was  especially  in  the  British  churches  that 
this  principle  received  its  fullest  statement  and  develop- 
ment. Thus  it  was  a  cardinal  principle  of  the  Church 
of  England  that :' 

"  The  Holy  Scripture  conteyneth  all  things  necessary  to  sah'ation  ; 
so  that  whatsoever  is  not  read  therein,  nor  may  be  proved  thereby, 
is  not  to  be  required  of  any  man  that  it  should  be  believed  as  an  ar- 
ticle of  faith  or  be  thought  requisite  as  necessary  to  salvation."* 

And  the  Westminster  Assembly,  in  carrying  on  the 
work  of  Reformation,  state  that : 

"  The  authority  of  the  Holy  Scripture,  for  which  it  ought  to  be  be- 
lieved and  obeyed,  dependeth  not  upon  the  testimony  of  any  man  or 
church,  but  wholly  upon  God  (who  is  truth  itself),  the  Author  there- 
of; and  therefore  it  is  to  be  received,  because  it  is  the  word  of  God."t 

Thus  the  three  principles  of  the  Reformation  were 
emphasized  variously  in  the  three  great  branches  of  the 
Reformation.  The  most  serious  defect  was  in  the  fail- 
ure of  the  respective  churches  properly  to  combine  these 
principles,  and  especially  in  the  neglect  to  define  with 
sufficient  care  the  relation  of  the  divine  grace  and  hu- 
man faith  to  the  Word  of  God.  Hence  the  common 
error  into  which  the  churches  of  the  Reformation  soon 
fell,  notwithstanding  their  symbols  of  faith,  namely,  the 
undue  emphasis  of  the  external  Word  of  God  over 
against  the  internal  Word  of  God.  But  as  we  have  said, 
"  The  Protestant  principle  struggles  against  this  con- 
founding of  the  means  of  grace  with  the  divine  grace  it- 
self, this  identification  of  the  instrument  and  the  divine 
agent,  in  order  therefore  to  their  proper  discrimination. 
This  is  the  problem  left  unsolved  by  the  Reformation ; 


*  XXX JX  Articles,  Art.  VI.  f  West.  Con/.,  I.,  4, 

18 


410  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

in  which  the  separate  churches  of  Protestantism  have  been 
working,  and  which  demands  a  solution  from  the  church 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  Here  the  most  radical  ques- 
tion is  that  of  the  divine  Word  and  its  relation  to  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  solved,  all  the  other 
questions  will  be  solved.  Herein  the  churches  of  the 
Reformation  may  be  harmonized.  The  Reformed 
churches  have  a  peculiar  call  to  grapple  bravely  with  the 
problem."  *  The  solution  of  this  problem  has  been 
prepared  by  the  exaltation  of  the  Person  of  Jesus  Christ 
more  and  more  during  the  last  century,  as  the  central 
principle  of  theology.  He  is  the  Word  of  God  in  the 
Word  of  God,  the  eternal  Logos.  He  is  the  veritable 
grace  of  the  Gospel  in  whose  person  grace  concentrates 
itself  for  the  redemption  of  mankind.  "  For  God  so 
loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  not  perish,  but 
have  everlasting  life  "  (John  iii.  i6). 

II.   THE   GRACE   OF    GOD    IN  THE  SCRIPTURES. 

The  grace  of  God  is  the  free  unmerited  favor  of  God 
in  .redemption.  That  grace  is  bestowed  upon  men  in 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour.  That  grace  is  presented  to 
us  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  applied  by  Him  to  our  per- 
sons and  lives.  This  application  is  made  in  the  use  of 
certain  external  media  which  are  called  the  means  of 
grace.  "  The  Holy  Ghost  works  faith  in  our  hearts  by 
the  preaching  of  the  Holy  Gospel,  and  confirms  it  by  the 
use  of  the  Holy  Sacraments."  f  Thus  the  chief  of  these 
means  of  grace,  according  to  our  Reformed  churches,  is 
the  Word  of  God  or  the  holy  Gospel  as  contained  in 
the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 

*  Presbyterian  Review,  II.,  p.  573.    See  p.  159. 
t  Heidelb.  Cat.,  Quest,  65. 


THE  SCRIPTURES  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE.  411 

(i)  In  what  sense  are  the  Scriptures  means  of  grace? 
The  Scriptures  are  means  of  grace  in  that  they  con- 
tain the  Gospel  of  Christ  which  is  the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation.  The  Word  of  God  is  called  the  Sword 
of  the  Spirit.  For  it  "  is  living,  and  active,  and  sharper 
than  any  two-edged  sword,  and  piercing  even  to  the  di- 
viding of  soul  and  spirit,  of  both  joints  and  marrow,  and 
quick  to  discern  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart " 
(Heb.  iv.  12).  It  is  the  lamp  of  God.  "Thy  word  is  a 
lamp  unto  my  feet  and  a  light  unto  my  path  "  (Ps.  cxix. 
105).  It  is  the  seed  of  regeneration.  For  Christians 
have  "  been  begotten  again,  not  of  corruptible  seed,  but 
of  incorruptible,  through  the  Word  of  God,  which  liveth 
and  abideth "  (i  Pet.  i.  23).  It  is  a  power  of  God 
{dvvai^i^).  "  For  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel ;  for 
it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  "  (Rom.  i.  16),  says 
Paul  to  the  Romans ;  and  he  reminds  his  disciple,  Tim- 
othy, that  "  from  a  babe  thou  hast  known  the  sacred 
writings,  which  are  able  {roc  Swan^va)  to  make  thee  wise 
unto  salvation  through  faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus" 
(2  Tim.  iii.  15).  These  attributes  of  the  Word  of  God 
cannot  be  brought  under  the  category  of  Inspiration. 
The  Inspiration  of  the  Word  of  God  is  a  highly  impor- 
tant doctrine,  but  it  must  not  be  so  greatly  emphasized 
as  to  lead  us  to  neglect  other  and  still  more  important 
aspects  of  the  Bible.  Inspiration  has  to  do  with  the 
truthfulness,  reliability,  accuracy,  and  authority  of  the 
Word  of  God ;  the  assurance  that  we  have  that  the  in- 
struction contained  therein  comes  from  God.  But  these 
attributes  of  the  divine  Word  that  we  have  just  men- 
tioned in  Biblical  terms  are  deeper  and  more  important 
than  Inspiration.  They  lie  at  the  root  of  Inspiration, 
as  among  its  strongest  evidences.  They  stand  out  as 
the  most  prominent  features  of  the  Gospel,  independent 


412  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

of  the  doctrine  of  Inspiration.  They  are  features  shared 
by  the  Bible  with  the  Church  and  the  sacraments  which 
are  not  inspired  and  are  not  infallible.  They  are  those 
attributes  that  make  the  Bible  what  it  is  in  the  life  of  the 
people  and  the  faith  of  the  church  without  raising  the 
question  of  Inspiration.  They  ascribe  to  the  Word  of 
God  a  divine  power  {Suva^i^)  such  as  is  contained  in  a 
seed  of  life,  the  movement  of  the  light,  the  activity  of  a 
sword,  a  power  that  works  redemption,  the  supreme 
means  of  grace.     As  Robert  Boyle  well  says :  * 

"Certainly  then,  if  we  consider  God  as  the  Creator  of  our  souls, 
and  so  likeliest  to  know  the  frame  and  springs  and  nature  of  his  own 
workmanship,  we  shall  make  but  little  difficulty  to  believe  that  in  the 
books  written  for  and  addressed  to  men,  he  hath  employed  very  pow- 
erful and  appropriated  means  to  work  upon  them.  And  in  effect, 
there  is  a  strange  movingness,  and,  if  the  epithet  be  not  too  bold,  a 
kind  of  heavenly  magic  to  be  found  in  some  passages  of  Scripture, 

which  is  to  be  found  nowhere  else." 

.  / 

(2)  What,  then,  is  this  power  of  grace  cont*ned  in  the 
Scriptyres?  The  power  of  grace  contained  in  the  Script- 
ures is'the  redemption  made  known  to  us,  freely  offered 
to  us  and  effectually  applied  to  us  in  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Saviour.  It  is  the  Holy  Gospel  in  the  Scriptures,  the 
Word  of  God  written,  presenting  as  in  a  mirror  of  wonder- 
ful combinations  from  so  many  different  points  of  view, 
the  glorious  person,  character,  life,  and  achievements  of 
the  Word  of  God  incarnate,  the  eternal  Logos.  Thus  the 
Scriptures  give  us  not  merely  the  history  of  Israel,  but 
the  history  of  redemption  from  its  earliest  prot-evan- 
gelium  to  its  fruition  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  Messiah  of 
history  and  prophecy.  They  give  us  not  ordinary  biog- 
raphy, but  the  experience  of  redeemed  men,  telling  us  of 


*  Some  Considerations  touching  the  Style  0/  the  H.  Scriptures,  London, 
i66i,  p.  241.  - 


THE  SCRIPTURES  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE.  413 

their  faith,  repentance,  spiritual  conflicts,  and  the  victo- 
ries of  grace.  They  give  us  the  grandest  poetry  of  the 
world  and  the  most  sublime  moral  precepts,  but  this 
poetry  is  composed  of  the  songs  of  the  redeemed ;  and 
these  precepts  are  the  lessons  of  those  who  are  wise  in 
the  fear  of  God.  They  give  us  oratory,  but  the  orations 
are  prophetic,  impassioned  utterances  of  warning  and 
comfort  in  view  of  the  conflicts  of  the  kingdom  of  grace 
and  its  ultimate  triumph,  and  the  preaching  of  the  gos- 
pel of  a  risen  and  glorified  Saviour.  They  give  us  essays 
and  epistles,  but  these  are  not  to  enlighten  us  in  the  arts 
and  sciences,  the  speculations  of  philosophy,  and  the 
maxims  of  commerce,  that  we  may  be  students  in  any 
of  the  departments  of  human  learning ;  but  they  set  forth 
Jesus  Christ  the  Saviour  in  whom  are  hid  all  the  treas- 
ures of  wisdom  and  knowledge  (Col.  ii.  3).  Redemption 
is  written  all  over  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments.  The  grace  of  God  that  bringeth  salvation 
is  the  one  all-pervading  influence.  This  is  the  holy  sub- 
stance of  the  Bible  to  which  all  else  is  the  human  form 
in  which  it  is  enveloped.  Hence  the  two  great  divisions 
of  the  Bible  are  called  Testaments  or  Covenants,  for 
they  are  covenants  of  grace,  the  great  storehouses  in 
which  God  has  treasured  up  for  all  time  and  for  all  the 
world  the  riches  of  His  grace  of  redemption. 

This  grace  of  Redemption  contained  in  Jesus  Christ 
and  conveyed    by  the   Scriptures,  is  redemption  from 
sin  to  holiness,  frorri  death  in  guilt  to  life  in  blessed- 
ness, it  is  a  grace  of  regeneration  and  a  grace  of  sane 
tification. 

{a)  It  is  a  grace  of  regeneration.     Christians  are  be- 
gotten again,  not  of  corruptible  seed  but  of  incorrupti- 
ble, by  the  Word  of  God  which  liveth  and  abideth  for 
ever  (i  Peter  i.  23).     Jesus  represents  His  word  as  i 


414  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

seed  of  grain  which  He  Himself  plants  in  the  human 
heart.  It  springs  up  in  the  good  soil,  first  the  blade, 
then  the  ear,  then  the  full  grain  in  the  ear,  and  grows 
to  maturity  amidst  all  kinds  of  difficulties  and  dangers 
(Mark  iv.).  It  is  a  germ  of  life  that  imparts  itself  to 
man's  heart  and  finds  therein  the  prepared  ground  of  its 
growth.  The  words  of  Jesus  are  spirit  and  life  (John  vi. 
63) ;  they  bear  in  them  the  regenerating  force  of  the 
divine  Spirit  to  quicken  the  human  spirit.  The  Gospel 
is  no  dead  letter,  it  is  a  living  organism,  for  Christ 
Jesus  is  in  it,  in  it  all,  and  in  every  part  of  it, 
and  the  energy  of  the  divine  Spirit  pervades  it, 
so  that  its  words  are  endowed  with  the  omnipotence  of 
divine  love  and  the  irresistibleness  of  divine  grace. 
Those  brief,  terse,  mysterious,  yet  simple  texts,  spread 
all  over  the  Bible,  the  inexhaustible  supply  for  the  min- 
isters of  the  Word,  those  little  Bibles,  that  contain  the 
quintessence  of  the  whole — like  the  mountain  lakes,  clear 
yet  reaching  to  vast  depths,  like  the  blue  Of  the  sky, 
charming  yet  leading  to  infinite  heights — they  lay  hold 
of  the  sinner  with  the  irresistible  conviction  of  his  sin  ; 
they  persuade  the  penitent  of  the  divine  forgiveness  ; 
they  constrain  faith  by  the  energy  of  redeeming  love ; 
they  assure  the  repenting  of  the  adoption  of  the  heaven- 
ly Father.  There  are  no  other  words  like  the  words  of 
God  contained  in  the  sacred  Scriptures,  in  which  the 
grace  of  God  appropriates,  moulds,  and  energizes  the 
forms  of  human  speech  with  creative,  generative  power. 
{b)  The  grace  of  redemption  contained  in  the  Script- 
ures is  also  sanctifying  grace.  Our  Saviour  prays  the 
Father  for  His  disciples :  "  Sanctify  them  through  thy 
truth  ;  thy  word  is  truth  "  (John  xvii.  17).  He  tells  His 
disciples,  "  Already  ye  are  clean  because  of  the  word 
which  I  have  spoken  unto  you  "  (John  xv.  3).     The  word 


THE  SCRIPTURES  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE.  417 

ing  upon  the  readers  and  hearers  and  students  of  the 
Word  by  a  divine  power.     The  Word  of  God  does  not 
work  ex  opere  operate,  that  is,  by  its  mere  use.     It  is 
not  the  mere  reading,  the  mere  study  of  the  Bible,  that 
is  efficacious.     It  is  not  the  Bible  in  the  house  or  in  the 
hands.     It  is  not  the  Bible  read  by  the  eyes  and  heard 
by  the  ears.     It  is  not  the  Bible  committed  to  memory 
and   recited  word   for  word.     It    is  not  the  Bible  ex- 
pounded by  the  teacher  and  apprehended  by  the  mind 
of  the  scholar.     All  these  are  but  external  forms  of  the 
Word  which  enwrap-  the  spiritual  substance,  the  grace 
of  redemption.     The  casket  contains  the  precious  jewels. 
It  must  be  opened  that  their  lustre  and  beauty  may 
charm  us.     The  shell  contains   the   nut.     It    must   be 
cracked  or  we  cannot  eat  it.     The  pitcher  contains  the 
water ;  but  it  must  be  poured  out  and  drunk  to  satisfy 
thirst.     The  Word  of  God  is  effectual  only  when  it  has 
become  dynamic,  and  wrought  vital  and  organic  changes, 
entering  into  the  depths  of  the  heart,  assimilating  itself 
to  the  spiritual  necessities  of  our  nature,  transforming 
life  and  character.     This  is  the  purpose  of  the  grace 
which  the  Bible  contains.     This  is  the  power  of  grace 
that  the  Bible  exhibits,  in  holding  forth  to  us  Jesus 
Christ  the  Saviour.     This  can  be  accomplished  in  us 
only  by  the  activity  of  the  Holy  Spirit  working  in  and 
through  the  Scriptures  in  their  use. 

IV.  THE  APPROPRIATION  OF  THE  GRACE  OF  THE  SCRIPT- 

URES. 
How  then  are  we  to  obtain  the  grace  of  God  con- 
tained in  the  Scriptures  and  effectually  applied  unto  us 
by  the  Holy  Spirit-  as  regenerating  and  sanctifying 
grace?  The  universal  Protestant  answer  to  this  ques 
tion  would  be,  the  grace  of  the  Scriptures  is  received  b> 
18* 


418 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


faith.  Faith  is  the  hand  of  the  soul  which  grasps  and 
takes  to  itself  the  grace  of  God.  But  the  nature  of  this 
appropriation  by  faith  needs  unfolding.  The  Westmin- 
ster Shorter  Catechism*  gives  the  best  answer  to  the 
question : 

"  That  the  Word  may  become  effectual  to  salvation,  we  must  at- 
tend thereunto  with  diligence,  preparation  and  prayer;  receive  it 
with  faith  and  love,  lay  it  up  in  our  hearts,  and  practice  it  in  our 
lives." 

(i)  The  first  thing  we  have  to  do  in  our  study  of  the 
Word  of  God  is  to  give  it  our  attention.  Indeed  atten- 
tion is  the  first  requisite  of  all  study  and  of  all  work. 
Diligence  and  preparation  are  necessary  for  all  under- 
takings. No  one  can  fulfil  his  calling  in  life  without 
these  qualifications.  But  there  is  an  attention  to  be 
given  to  the  Word  of  God  which  is  peculiar,  and  vastly 
higher  than  the  attention  given  to  ordinary  avocations 
of  life.  It  is  an  attention  that  is  distinguished  by 
prayer,  for  the  study  of  the  Bible  is  a  study  of  redemp- 
tion, a  search  for  the  power  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  a 
quest  for  the  grace  of  salvation.  Such  study  must  be 
pointed  with  prayer,  for  prayer  is  the  soul's  quest  after 
God.  Prayer  directs  the  student  of  the  Bible  to  God  in 
the  Bible.  It  withdraws  the  attention  from  all  other 
things  that  might  absorb  and  attract  it,  and  concentrates 
it  on  God.  Prayer  is  the  arrow-head  that  bears  the  ar- 
row of  attention  to  its  mark — God.  If  the  grace  of  God 
in  the  sacred  Scriptures,  the  prevenient  grace, — always 
preceding  and  anticipating  the  quest  of  man,  ready  to 
be  found,  waiting  to  impart  itself  to  us, — be  directed  by 
the  Holy  Spirit ;  then  the  attention  of  the  Bible  student, 
directed  by  prayer,  comes  in  immediate  contact  with  this 

*Ques.  90. 


THE  SCRIPTURES  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE.  419 

Spirit  of  grace  and  receives  the  power  of  salvation  in 
personal  union  with  Him.  Hence  it  is  that  prayer  is 
associated  with  the  Word  of  God  and  the  Sacraments  as 
a  means  of  grace.  It  is  not  a  means  of  grace  in  the 
same  way  as  the  Word  of  God,  but  it  is  a  means  of 
grace  of  no  less  importance  ;  for  if  the  Word  of  God  is 
the  instrument,  the  means  by  which  the  grace  of  God  is 
given  to  us  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  prayer  is  the  instrument 
or  means  of  grace  whereby  we  are  able  to  receive  and 
use  the  grace  of  God.  It  is  of  prime  importance,  there- 
fore, that  the  student  of  the  Bible  should  be  bathed 
in  prayer,  and  that  the  spirit  of  prayer  should  be  the 
animating  influence  in  all  our  investigations  of  the 
Scriptures.  Prayerful  attention  seeks  and  finds  God, 
appropriates  His  grace  and  the  redemptive  influence  of 
His  Word. 
Robert  Boyle  *  well  says  : 

"And  surely  this  consideration  of  the  Bible's  being  one  of  the 
conduit  pipes,  through  which  God  hath  appointed  to  conveigh  his 
Truth,  as  well  as  graces  to  his  children,  should  methinks  both  largely 
animate  us  to  the  searching  of  the  Scriptures,  and  equally  refresh  us 
in  it.  For  as  no  Instrument  is  weak  in  an  omnipotent  hand  :  so 
ought  no  means  to  be  looked  upon  as  more  promising  than  that 
which  is  like  to  be  prospered  by  Grace,  as  'tis  devised  by  Omniscience. 
We  may  confidently  expect  God's  blessing  upon  his  own  institutions, 
since  we  know,  that  whatsoever  we  ask  according  to  the  will  of  God, 
he  will  give  it  us,  and  we  can  scarce  ask  anything  more  agreeable  to 
the  will  of  God,  than  the  competent  understanding  of  that  book 
wherein  his  will  is  contained." 

In  order  to  emphasize  this  all-important  point  and 
give  it  its  proper  position  in  Biblical  study,  it  will  be 
necessary  for  us  to  make  some  discriminations,. 


*  Some  Considerations  touching  the  Style  of  the  H.  Scrij^tures.    Londoa, 
1661,  p.  50. 


420  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

(a)  The  first  work  in  the  scientific  and  systematic 
study  of  the  Scriptures  is  called  textual  criticism,  or  the 
Lower  Criticism.  It  is  first  of  all  necessary  to  know  the 
text  in  which  the  Scriptures  are  contained.  Hence  the 
candidates  for  the  ministry  devote  a  large  portion  of 
their  time  to  a  study  of  the  sacred  languages,  the  various 
versions  and  MSS.  of  the  Word  of  God.  All  transla- 
tions must  be  derived  from  a  faithful  study  of  the  orig- 
inals. It  is  indispensable  that  a  living  church  should 
have  a  ministry  who  are  brought  into  immediate  contact 
with  the  divine  originals.  The  Bible  in  unknown  tongues 
is  a  Paradise  fenced  and  barred  (see  Chaps.  III.  and  VI.). 
The  acquisition  of  the  original  text  removes  the  barrier; 
the  translation  into  the  tongue  of  the  people  opens  the 
gates,  that  all  who  will  may  enter  in.  Hence  our  Prot- 
estant churches  have  made  it  an  article  of  faith  that  the 
Bible  must  be  given  to  the  people  in  their  own  tongue, 
and  continually  interpreted  to  the  people  by  ministers, 
who  know  themselves  the  originals,  and  are  able  to  re- 
move misapprehensions  that  will  always  arise,  to  some 
extent,  in  connection  with  all  translations  and  reproduc- 
tions. But  this  first  step  of  the  mastery  of  the  divine 
original  text  may  be  accomplished  and  yet  the  grace  of 
God  that  is  in  the  Scriptures  remain  entirely  unknown. 
It  is  as  if  a  man  should  enter  the  king's  garden  and  de- 
vote his  entire  attention  to  the  study  of  the  gates  and 
walls. 

(d)  The  second  step  in  Biblical  study  is  literary  criti- 
cism or  Higher  Criticism  (see  Chaps.  VII.,  VIII. ,  and 
IX.).  The  sacred  Scriptures  are  composed  of  a  great 
variety  of  writings  of  different  authors  in  different  pe- 
riods of  history,  writing  in  many  different  styles,  such  as 
poetry  and  prose,  history  and  story,  epistle  and  prophecy. 
Borne  of  this  literature  is  exceedingly  choice  from  a 


THE  SCRIPTURES  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE.  421 

purely  literary  point  of  view.  An  anthology  of  the 
choicest  pieces  af  Biblical  literature  would  certainly  be  a 
very  profitable  study  for  many  of  God's  people.  Their 
eyes  would  be  opened  to  the  wondrous  forms  of  beauty 
in  which  God  has  chosen  to  reveal  His  grace  of  redemp- 
tion. But  to  study  the  Bible  as  sacred  literature  is  not 
to  study  it  as  a  means  of  grace.  Exclusive  devotion  to 
that  theme  is  as  if  one  should  enter  the  king's  garden, 
and  instead  of  going  at  once  to  his  gracious  presence, 
in  accordance  with  his  invitation,  we  should  devote  our- 
selves to  the  beautiful  trees  and  flowers  and  ornamental 
shrubs  and  landscape. 

(c)  The  third  work  of  Biblical  study  is  Biblical  exegesis 
(see  Chap.  X.).  In  this  department  the  student  in  every 
way  endeavors  to  get  at  the  true  meaning  of  the  Script- 
ures. The  particular  passage  and  the  entire  writing 
under  consideration  must  be  studied  with  the  most 
minute  accuracy,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  com- 
prehensive summation  of  evidence.  But  even  this  may 
be  carried  on  in  a  most  thorough  and  successful  manner 
in  all  its  stages,  except  the  last  and  highest  (see  p.  363), 
without  finding  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  Some  of  the 
best  exegetes  have  not  been  true  Christians.  The  peril 
in  exegesis  is,  the  becoming  absorbed  in  details,  and  in 
giving  ourselves  to  the  quest  after  truth  and  scholarly 
accuracy.  It  is  as  if  one  entered  the  king's  garden  and 
devoted  himself  at  once  to  a  scientific  examination  and 
classification  of  its  contents,  the  survey  and  mapping 
out  of  its  sections. 

{d)  The  fourth  work  of  Biblical  study  is  the  study  of  the 
theology  of  the  Bible  (see  Chap.  XL) — its  religion,  its  doc- 
trines, and  its  morals.  This  is  the  highest  attainment  of 
Biblical  scholarship,  but  it  is  not  the  study  of  the  Bible 
as  a  means  of  grace.     It  is  as  if  we  entered  the  king's 


422  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

palace  and  devoted  our  attention  to  the  principles  and 
maxims  of  his  administration,  the  rules  of  his  household, 
while  the  king  himself  was  graciously  waiting  to  receive 
us  into  his  own  presence  and  give  us  the  kiss  of  fatherly 
salutation. 

All  of  these  various  subjects  of  Biblical  study  are 
vastly  important.  The  Church  has  not  yet  awakened  to 
the  vast  possibilities  and  the  wonderful  fruitage  to  be 
derived  from  Biblical  study.  No  one  could  exalt  these 
departments,  each  and  all  of  them,  more  highly  than  we 
are  disposed  to  do,  but  notwithstanding,  it  must  be  said 
that  if  all  these  studies  could  be  accomplished  in  a  most 
scholarly  manner,  the  chief  thing,  the  one  supreme  thing, 
might  still  remain  unaccomplished — namely,  the  study 
of  the  Bible  as  a  means  of  grace.  This  is  the  highest 
achievement  of  Biblical  study.  For  prayer  will  seek  first 
the  presence  and  the  person  of  God,  It  will  not  be  de- 
tained by  anything  in  the  Bible.  It  will  press  on  through 
the  text,  the  literature,  the  exegesis,  and  the  theology, 
giving  them  but  slight  attention,  a  mere  passing  glance, 
firmly  advancing  into  the  presence-chamber  of  God.  It 
will  run  in  the  footsteps  of  the  divine  Spirit  until  the  man 
is  ushered  into  the  presence  of  the  Heavenly  Father  and 
bows  in  adoration  and  love  to  the  dear  Saviour  and  has 
the  adoption  and  recognition  of  sonship.  Then  first  will 
he  be  assured  that  the  Bible  is  indeed  the  Word  of  God, 
the  inspired  canon,  when  he  has  found  God  in  the  Bible 
(see  Chap.  V.) ;  then  first  will  he  understand  the  Script- 
ures at  their  centre,  in  their  very  heart,  when  he  has  recog- 
nized his  Saviour  in  them  (see  Chap.  X.,  p.  364) ;  then  in 
the  light  of  the  Redeemer's  countenance,  the  student  may 
go  forth  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  beauties  and  glories 
and  wondrous  manifestations  of  truth  and  love  in  the 
Scriptures,  and  find  them  radiant  with  the  love  of  Christ> 


THE  SCRIPTURES  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE.  423 

and  pervaded  throughout  with  the  effectual  grace  of 
God.     As  an  ancient  Puritan  divine  has  said  : 

"  Thus  in  the  Scriptures  ye  find  life,  because  the  Word  is  so  effect- 
ual to  doe  you  good,  to  convert  your  soul,  to  pull  down  Satan's 
throne,  and  to  build  up  the  soul  in  g^ace.  It  is  a  hammer  to  break 
the  hard  heart,  a  fire  to  purge  the  drossie  heart,  a  light  to  shine  into 
the  darke  heart,  an  oyle  to  revive  the  broken  heart,  armour  of  proof 
to  stablish  the^eake  and  tempted  heart.  If  these  precious  things  be 
matters  of  Christian  religion  ;  then  surely  the  written  word  is  the 
foundation  of  it.  Eternal  life  is  in  the  Scriptures,  because  they  testify 
of  Christ,  they  set  forth  Christ  who  is  the  way  the  truth  and  the  life  ; 
in  them  ye  find  life,  because  in  them  ye  find  Christ.  So  far  as  by 
Scripture  we  get  acquaintance  with  Christ ;  ^o  far  we  are  acquainted 
with  salvation  and  no  farther.  For  if  you  knew  all  Histories  and  all 
the  prophecies,  if  ye  had  the  whole  Bible  by  heart,  if  by  it  you  could 
judge  of  all  disputes,  yet  until  you  find  Christ  there,  you  cannot  find 
life ;  the  Scriptures  are  to  us  salvificall  because  they  bring  us  unto 
Christ."  * 

(2)  Faith  in  the  form  of  prayerful  attention  and  inves- 
tigation is  followed  by  appropriatiyig  faith.  The  atten- 
tion becomes  more  and  more  absorbed  in  its  object. 
Prayer  having  attained  its  quest  is  satisfied  and  grateful. 
The  grace  of  God,  so  evidently  set  forth  in  the  Script^ 
ures  in  Jesus  Christ  the  Saviour,  is  appropriated  in  this" 
personal  contact.  The  affections  are  generated  and  im- 
part to  faith  new  vigor.  The  Holy  Spirit  grasps  the 
hand  of  prayer  and  pours  into  it  the  treasures  of  grace, 
and  they  are  clasped  as  infinitely  precious  to  believing 
and  loving  hearts.  As  a  distinguished  modern  divine 
says : 

"  Holy  Scripture  gives  faith  its  object.  It  puts  Christianity  in  its 
purity  and  attractiveness  before  our  eyes  as  an  object  which  is  itself 
a  challenge  and  inducement  to  enter  into  union  with  it  by  faith." 
.  .  .  .  "  The  Holy  Spirit  perpetually  glorifies  Christ  as  He  is  set 


*  Lyford,  Plain  Man's  Senses  exercised,  1655,  pp.  59,  60. 


424  BIBLICAL  STUDT. 

forth  in  Scripture,  makes  Him  emerge,  so  to  speak,  from  the  letter 
and  stand  out  in  living  form  before  us.  He  thus  brings  us  through 
the  medium  of  Holy  Scripture  into  communion  with  the  living 
Christ."  * 

Thus  faith  and  love  are  the  two  eyes  of  the  soul  that 
see  the  living  Christ  present  in  His  Word.  They  are 
the  spiritual  appetites  by  which  we  partake  of  the  bread 
of  heaven  and  living  water.  Such  a  receiving  is  an  ever- 
increasing  enjoyment  of  the  infinite  riches  of  divine 
grace,  the  inexhaustible  treasures  of  redemptive  love. 
The  supply  of  grace  in  the  Scriptures  is  inexhaustible. 
The  possibilities  of  the  growth  of  the  affections  of  faith 
and  love  are  only  limited  by  the  possibilities  of  grace 
itself.  This  system  of  grace  is  compared  by  the  prophet 
Zechariah  to  a  vast  self-feeding  lamp-stand  with  its  seven 
branches  and  lighted  lamps,  supplied  by  the  ever-living, 
growing,  and  oil-producing  olive-trees  that  stand  by  its 
sides  and  overshadow  it  (Zech.  iv.).  The  oil  of  grace  is 
ever  fresh  and  new — the  light  is  ever  bright  and  brilliant. 
Faith's  eye  sees  and  understands  it  more  and  more. 

But  just  here  it  is  necessary  to  guard  against  a  too 
common  error.  It  is  true  that  the  grace  of  God  per- 
vades the  Scriptures  and  Christ  is  the  master  of  the 
Scriptures,  but  it  is  not  equally  easy  for 'faith  to  see  and 
appreciate  the  grace  of  God  in  every  passage.  The 
Bible  contains  supplies  of  grace  for  all  the  world,  and 
for  all  time,  for  the  weak  and  baby  Christians,  for  the 
strong  and  manly  Christians,  for  the  immature  Christian 
centuries,  and  for  the  church  in  its  highest  development 
as  the  Bride  of  thef  Lamb.  Training  in  the  school  of 
grace  is  indispensable  for  the  appropriation  of  the  grace 
of  the  Scriptures.  There  are  buf  few  who  are  able  to 
appropriate  more  than  the  grace  that  lies  on  the  surface 

*  Domer  System  q/  Christian  Doctrine^  IV.,  pp.  260,  261.  ^ 


THE  SCRIPTURES  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE.      425 

of  the  plainest  passages  of  Scripture.  The  Church  is 
constantly  learning  new  lessons  of  grace  from  the  Script- 
ures. We  have  a  right  to  expect  still  greater  light  to 
break  forth  from  the  Scriptures  when  the  Church  has 
been  prepared  to  receive  it.  The  Church  did  not  attain 
its  maturity  at  the  Nicene  Council.  Augustine  was  not 
the  highest  achievement  of  Christian  faith  and  experi- 
ence. The  Protestant  Reformation  did  not  introduce 
the  golden  age.  A  church  that  is  not  growing  in  grace 
is  a  lukewarm,  if  not  a  dead  church.  A  theology  that  is 
not  progressive  is  bedridden,  if  not  a  dead  theology. 
The  Church  needs  a  greater  Reformation  than  it  has 
ever  yet  enjoyed — a  more  extensive  pouring  out  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  a  deeper  quickening,  a  more  intense  devo- 
tion in  love  and  service  to  our  Saviour  and  the  interests 
of  His  kingdom.  We  are  convinced  that  the  seeds  of 
such  a  Reformation  are  embedded  in  the  Bible,  only 
waiting  a  new  spring-time  of  the  world  to  shoot  forth. 
The  grace  of  God  will  reveal  itself  to  another  Luther 
and  another  Calvin  at  no  very  distant  day,  in  vastly 
greater  richness  and  fulness,  for  the  sanctification  of  the 
Church  and  the  preparation  -of  the  Bride  for  her  Bride- 
groom. In  the  meantime  it  behooves  us  all  to  turn 
away  from  the  abnormal,  immature,  and  defective  expe- 
riences and  systems  of  very  poor  Christians  so  often  held 
up  to  us  as  models  for  our  attainment,  and  to  set  our 
faces  as  a  flint  against  every  wresting  of  Scripture  in  the 
interest  of  any  dogma,  new  or  old,  and  concentrate  our 
faith  and  love  upon  the  image  of  the  grace  of  God  in 
Jesus  Christ,  the  crucified,  risen  and  glorified  Redeemer, 
He  is  the  one  object  that  concentrates  the  grace  of  God 
— the  fountain  source  of  supply  for  all  believers.  Into 
His  image  as  the  divine  likeness  we  are  to  be  trans- 
formed, and  we  ought  to  think  of  no  other. 


426  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

The  Scriptures  are  indeed  means,  not  ends.  They  are 
to  bring  us  to  God,  to  assimilate  us  to  Christ,  to  unite 
us  in  organic  union  with  Him.  If  this  has  not  been  ac- 
complished, there  has  been  very  great  failure,  however 
much  we  may  have  accomplished  in  Biblical  scholarship, 
or  Dogmatic  Theology,  in  the  History  and  Polity  of  the 
Church,  in  devotional  reading  and  preaching,  in  the  ap- 
plication of  particular  passages  to  our  souls.  But  those 
who  have  become  personally  attached  to  Jesus  Christ 
have  found  the  Master  of  the  Scriptures.  He  is  the  key 
to  its  treasures,  the  clue  to  its  labyrinths.  Under  His 
instruction  and  guidance  believers  search  the  Scriptures 
with  ever-increasing  pleasure  and  profit.  They  ever  find 
treasures  new  and  old.  They  understand  the  secret  of 
grace.  They  know  how  to  extract  it  from  the  varied  forms 
in  which  it  is  enveloped.  They  explore  the  deepest 
mines  and  bring  forth  lustrous  gems  of  truth.  They 
climb  the  highest  peaks  and  rapturously  gaze  on  the 
vast  territories  of  their  Lord.  With  the  Psalmist  they 
exclaim  (Ps.  cxix.  97,  103,  127,  160) : 

"  O  how  I  love  thy  instruction  ! 
It  is  my  meditation  all  the  day. 

•   "  How  sweet  are  thy  words  unto  my  taste  ! 
Sweeter  than  honey  to  my  mouth, 

"  I  love  thy  commandments  above  gold, 
Yea  above  fine  gold. 

"  The  sum  of  thy  words  is  truth, 
And  everlasting  all  thy  righteous  judgments." 

(3)  But  the  grace  of  God  in  the  Scriptures  can  be  fully 
appropriated  only  by  practicing  faith.  Our  Saviour 
taught  His  disciples  :  "  If  any  man  willeth  to  do  his  will 
he  shall  know  of  the  teaching,  whether  it  be  of  God  or 


THE  SCRIPTURES  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE.  427 

whether  I  speak  from  myself "  (John  vii.  17).  Experi- 
ment is  ever  the  victor  of  doubt.  Faith  is  tested  by- 
practice.  Abraham's  faith  was  proved  by  his  willingness 
to  sacrifice  his  well-beloved  son.  Mere  faith  is  seeming 
faith,  a  shadow,  a  dead  vanity.  A  real,  genuine,  living 
faith  apprehends  and  uses  divine  grace.  The  grace  of 
God  is  effectual.  It  is  dynamic  in  its  application  of  re- 
demption. It  is  no  less  dynamic  after  it  has  been  ap- 
propriated by  man.  The  light  of  the  world  lights  up 
Christian  lamps.  The  water  of  life  becomes  in  the  be- 
liever a  fountain,  from  which  shall  flow  rivers  of  living 
water  (John  vii.  38).  The  grace  of  God  is  made  effect- 
ual by  "  laying  it  up  in  our  hearts  and  practicing  it  in 
our  lives."  The  grace  of  God  becomes  a  grace  of  expe- 
rience. Unless  the  divine  grace  continue  to  flow  forth 
from  a  man  in  his  life  and  conduct,  the  source  of 
supply  is  stopped.  As  a  reservoir  which  has  no  outlet  . 
will  have  no  incoming  waters.  A  lamp  that  does  not 
burn  will  not  be  able  to  receive  fresh  supplies  of  oil. 

From  this  two  things  follow: 

(a)  If  a  Christian  man  would  use  the  Scriptures  as  a 
means  of  grace  he  must  continually  put  them  in  prac- 
tice in  his  heart  and  life.  If  the  church  would  appre- 
hend more  and  more  the  riches  of  the  grace  of  Jesus 
Christ  contained  in  the  Scriptures  it  must  become  a 
more  practical,  earnest,  Christ-like  church.  The  source 
of  supply  from  the  Scripture  reservoir  is  feeble  because 
the  outflowing  of  grace  from  Christian  men  and  women 
is  feeble. 

{d)  Christians  become  secondary  sources  of  supply. 
The  Word  of  God,  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  when  ap- 
propriated by  the  Christian,  assimilated  to  his  needs, 
transformed  into  his  life,  does  not  cease  to  be  the  Gos- 
pel of  the  grace  of  God.     The  external  form  has  been 


428  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

changed,  but  the  internal  substance  of  grace  is  the  same. 
The  Word  of  God  does  not  cease  to  be  the  Word  of 
God  when  wrapped  in  other  than  Scripture  language. 
Hence  it  is  that  the  Christian  becomes  a  living  epistle  of 
God  (2  Cor.  iii.  3),  and  the  Church,  as  a  body  of  such  epis- 
tles, a  means  of  grace,  conveying  the  divine  grace  in  an- 
other form  to  the  world.  It  is  ever  the  grace  of  God  that 
is  the  effectual  divine  force  and  not  the  form  in  which 
for  the  time  it  may  be  enveloped.  Happy  the  church 
when  its  ministers  have  become  more  really  such  living 
epistles,  written  with  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God !  Blessed 
will  that  time  be,  when  the  entire  membership  of  the 
church  shall  become  such  epistles,  when  Christ,  who  so 
loved  the  Church  and  gave  Himself  for  it,  shall  have 
sanctified  it,  having  cleansed  it  by  the  washing  of  water 
with  the  Word  (Eph.  v.  25) !  Then  will  the  ancient 
prophecy  be  realized  (Heb.  viii.  lo-i  i)  : 

"  I  will  put  my  laws  in  their  mind. 
And  on  their  heart  also  will  I  write  them  : 
And  I  will  become  their  God, 
And  they  shall  become  my  people  : 
And  they  shall  notteach  every  one  his  fellow-citizen. 
And  every  one  his  brother,  saying.  Know  the  Lord : 
For  all  shall  knovV  me, 
From  the  least  to  the  greatest  of  them." 


A   CATALOGUE 


OF 


BOOKS   OF   REFERENCE   FOR   BIBLICAL   STUDY. 

*^  This  catalogue  has  been  prepared  for  those  who  desire  to 
pursue  Biblical  study  in  three  grades  :  ( i ).  The  books  marked 
with  a  star  and  placed  first  in  each  division,  are  recom?nended 
to  the  general  public.  (2).  The  books  marked  with  a  cross, 
following  those  marked  with  a  star,  are  recommended  for 
theological  students  and  ministers.  (3).  The  remainder  of 
the  books  mentioned  have  been  selected  for  a  reference  library 
in  a  theological  seminary,  as  an  introduction  to  a  more  schol- 
arly study  of  the  Scriptures.  The  arrangement  is  first  topi- 
cal, and  second  in  accordance  with  relative  importance  to  the 
several  classes  of  students.  Honorary  and  ofiUcial  titles  of 
authors  or  editors  have  been  omitted. 

I.— Biblical  Study  in  General. 

♦ScHAFF,  Philip.  A  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  including  Biog- 
raphy, Natural  History,  Geography,  Topography,  Archae- 
ology, and  Literature.  Philadelphia  :  American  Sunday- 
school  Union.     3d  edition.     1883. 

*HiTCHCOCK,  RoswELL  D.  A  New  and  Complete  Analysis  of 
the  Holy  Bible.  The  Old  and  New  Testaments  arranged 
by  Subjects  on  the  basis  of  M.  Talbot,  with  Indexes  and 
Tables  by  N.  West.  With  Cruden's  Concordance,  revised 
by  J.  Eadie.     New  York  :  A.  J.  Johnson  &  Co.     1870. 

fSMiTH,  William.     Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  comprising  its 
Antiquities,  Biography,  Geography,  and  Natural  History. 
3  vols.     London  :  John  Murray,  1860-63.     Revised  and     ^ 
edited  by  H.  B.  Hackett,  with  the  co-operation  of  Ezra  Ab- 
bot.    4  vols.     New  York:   Hurd  &  Houghton.     1868-70. 

f ZoECKLER,  Otto.  Handbuch  d.  Theologischen  WissenschafUn 
in  Encyklopddischer Darstellung  mit  besonderer  Riicksicht 
auf  der  einzelnen  Disciplinen  in  verbindung  mit  Cremer, 


430  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  • 

Grau,  Harnack,  Kubel,Luthardt,von  Scheele,  F.W,  Schultz, 
L.  Schultz,  Strack,  Volck,  von  Zezschwitz,  Plath  und 
Schafer.  Nordlingen  :  C.  H.  Beck.  1882-3.  [4  half  vols, 
have  appeared.  A  translation  is  in  press.  T.  &  T.  Clark, 
Edinburgh]. 

HoRNE,  T.  Hartwell.  An  Introduction  to  the  Critical  Study 
and  Kno^vledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  13th  edition,  re- 
vised and  corrected  by  J.  Ayre  and  S.  Tregelles.  4  vols. 
London  :  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.     1872. 

WoGUE,  L.  Histoire  de  la  Bible  et  de  r  Exeghse  Biblique 
j'usqu'  a  nosjours.     Paris  ^  I'lmprimerie  Nationale.     1881. 

Hagenbach,  K.  C.  Encyklopddie  und  Methodologie  der 
TheologischenWissenschaften.  lote  Aufl.  von  E.  Kautzsch. 
1880.     Leipzig:  C.  Hirzel.     1874. 

Diestel,  Ludwig,  Geschichte  des  Alten  Testamentes  in  der 
Christlichen  Kirche.     Jena  :  H.  Dufft.     1869. 

Roberts,  Francis.  Clavis  Bibliorum.  The  Key  to  the  Bible, 
unlocking  the  richest  Treasures  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
4th  edition,  folio.     London  :  P.  Parker.     1675. 

KiTTO,  John.  A  Cyclopcedia  of  Biblical  Literature,  originally 
edited  by  John  Kitto.  3d  edition,  greatly  enlarged  and 
improved.  Edited  by  W.  L.  Alexander.  3  vols.  Lon- 
don :  A.  &  C.  Black.  Philadelphia  :  J.  B.  Lippincott  & 
Co.     1865. 

Riehm,  Edward.  Handwdrterbuch  des  Biblisches  Altertums 
fur  gebildete  Bibelleser.  Bielefeld  und  Leipzig  ;  Belhagen 
&  Klasing.     1875-83  (still  unfinished). 

II. — The  Languages  of  the  Bible  and 
Cognates. 

(i)  The  Hebrew  Language. 

f  Davidson,  A.  B.  An  Introductory  Hebrew  Grammar,  with 
Progressive  Exercises  in  Reading  and  Writing.  5th 
edition.     Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1883. 

fGESENius,  WiLHELM.  Hebrew  Grammar.  Translated  by 
Benj.  Davis  from  Rodiger's  edition.     Thoroughly   revised 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDF.  43I 

and  enlarged  on  the  basis  of  the  latest  edition  of  E. 
Kautzsch,  and  from  other  recent  authorities,  by  Edward 
C  Mitchell.     Andover :  W.  F.  Draper.     1880. 

f  Driver,  S.  R.  A  Treatise  of  the  Tenses  in  Hebrew^  and 
some  other  Syntactical  Questions.  Oxford  :  At  the  Clar- 
endon Press.     2d  edition.     i88t. 

f  Robinson,  Edward.  A  Hebrew  and  English  Lexicon  of  the 
Old  Testament,  including  the  Biblical  Chaldee.  From  the 
Latin  of  William  Gesenius,  with  corrections  and  large  ad- 
ditions, partly  furnished  by  the  author  in  manuscript, 
and  partly  condensed  from  his  larger  Thesaurus.  3d  edi- 
tion.    Boston  :  Crocker  &  Brewster.     1849. 

fPoTTER,  Joseph  Lewis,  An  English- Hebreiv  Lexicon,  be- 
ing a  complete  Verbal  Index  to  Gesenius'  Hebrew  Lexi- 
con, as  translated  by  Edward  Robinson.  Boston  :  Crocker 
&  Brewster.     1872. 

f  Harper,  W.  R.  Hebrew  Vocabularies.  Chicago :  Max 
Stern,  Goldsmith  &  Co.     1882. 

f Green,  William  Henry.  A  Grammar  of  the  Hebrew 
Language.  4th  edition  (in  press).  New  York :  John 
Wiley  &  Sons.     1883. 

EwALD,  Heinrich.  Syntax  of  the  Hebrew  Language.  Trans- 
lated from  the  8th  German  edition  by  James  Kennedy. 
Edinburgh.     T.  &  T.  Clark.     1879. 

Nordheimer,  Isaac.  A  Critical  Grammar  of  the  Hebrew 
Language.  2  vols.  2d  edition.  New  York :  Wiley  & 
Putnam.     1842. 

EwALD,  Heinrich.  Ausfuhrlic^es  Lehrbuch  der  Hebrdischen 
Sprache  des  Alien  Bundes.  8te  Ausgabe.  Gottingen. 
J.  C.  Dieterich.     1870. 

BoTTCHER,  Friedrich.  AusfUhrlichcs  Lehrbuch  der  Hebra- 
ischen  Sprache,  nach  dem.  Tode  des  Verfassers  herausge- 
geben  von  Ferd.  Miihlau.  2  Bde.  Leipzig  :  J.  A.  Barth. 
1866. 

Olshausen,  Justus.  Lehrbuch  der  Hebrdischen  Sprache. 
Braunschweig  f  F.  Vieweg  und  Sohn.     1861. 


432  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Gesenius,  Wilhelm.  AusfUhrliches  grammatisch-kritisches 
Lehrgebaude  der  Hebraischen  Sprache  tnit  vergleichung 
der  verwandten  Dialekte.     Leipzig:  C.  W.  Vogel.     1817. 

Strack,  Hermann.  Hebrdische  Grammatik  mit  Uebungs- 
stiicken,  Litteratur  und  Vokabular.  Karlsruhe  und  Leip- 
zig :  H.  Reuther.     1883. 

EiCKEL,  GusTAVUS.  Outlines  of  Hebrew  Grammar.  Re- 
vised by  the  author  and  annotated  by  the  translator,  S.  L 
Curtiss,  Jr.     Leipzig:  F.  A.  Brockhaus.     1877. 

Gesenius,  Wilhelm.  Thesaurus philologicus  criticus  linguae 
Hebraeae  et  Chaldaeae  Veteris  Testamenti.  Editio'  altera. 
3  Tom.  1835-53.  Lipsiae  :  F.  C.  G.  Vogel.  (The  work 
was  completed  by  Aemilius  Roediger.) 

Gesenius,  Wilhelm.  Hebrdisches  imd  Chalddisches  Hand- 
u'drterbuch.  pte  Aufl.  von  F.  Miihlau  und  W.  Volck. 
Leipzig  :  F.  C.  W.  Vogel.     1882-83. 

Fuerst,  Julius.  Hebrdisches  und  Chaldaisches  Handwdrter- 
buck  Uber  das  Alte  Testament.  Leipzig  :  B.  Tauchnitz. 
A  Hebrew  and  Chaldee  Lexicon  to  the  Old  Testament.  4lh 
edition.  Translated  from  the  German  by  Samuel  David- 
son.    London  :  Williams  &  Norgate.  187 1. 

Meier,  Ernst.     Hebrdisches  Wurzelwdrterbuch.     Manheim  : 

F.  Bassermann.     1845. 

Girdlestone,  R.  B.  Synonyms  of  the  Old  Testament :  their 
bearing  on  Christian  Faith  and  Practice.  London  :  Long- 
mans, Green  &  Co.     187 1. 

(2)  Aramaic. 
fRiGGS,    Elias.     a   Manual  of  the  Chaldee  Language,  con- 
taining  a  Chaldee  grammar,  chiefly  from   the  German   of 

G.  B.  Winer  ;  a  Chrestomathy  consisting  of  selections 
from  the  Targums,  and  including  notes  on  the  Biblical 
Chaldee,  etc.  4th  edition.  New  York  :  A.  D.  F.  Ran- 
dolph &  Co.     1858. 

f CowpER,  B.  Harris.  The  Principles  of  Syriac  Grammar. 
Translated  and  abridged  from  the  work  of  Hoffmann. 
London  :  Williams  &  Norgate.     1858. 

+Castell,  Edmund.  Lexicon  Syriacum  ex  eius  Heptaglotto 
seorsim  typis  describi  curavit  atquesua  adnotata  adjecit 
J.  D.  Michaelis.     Gottingae  :  J.  C  Dieterich.     1788. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  433 

f  ROEDIGER,  Aemilius.  Chrestomathia  Syriaca  quam  glossa- 
rio  et  tabulis  grammaticis.  Editio  altera.  Halis  :  Sump- 
titus  Orphanotrophei.     1868. 

LuzzATTO,  S.  D.  Grammar  of  the  Biblical  Chaldaic  Lan- 
guage and  the  Talmud  Babli  Idioms.  Translated  from 
the  Italian,  and  largely  renewed  by  J.  S.  Goldammer. 
New  York  :  John  Wiley  &  Sons.     1876. 

Geiger,  Abraham.  Lehr  und  Lesebuch  zur  Sprache  der 
Mischnah.     Breslau  :   F.  C.  G.  Leuckart.     1845. 

Levy,  Jacob.  Chalddisches  Wdrterbuch  iiber  die  Targumim 
und  einen  grossen  Theil  des  rabbinischen  Schriftthums. 
2  Bde.     2te  Ausgabe.     Leipzig:  Baumgartner.     1876. 

Levy,  Jacob.  Neuhebrdisches  und  Chalddisches  Worterbuch 
iiber  die  Talmudim  und  Midraschim  nebst  beitragen  von 
H.  L.  Fleischer.  4  Bde.  Leipzig  :  F.  A.  Brockhaus. 
1876-83.     (The  fourth  vol.  has  not  yet  appeared.) 

Phillips,  George.  A  Syriac  Grammar.  3d  edition.  Cam- 
bridge :  Deighton,  Bell  &  Co.     i866. 

Nestle,  Eberard,  Brevis  Linguae  Syriacae.  Carlsruhe 
und  Leipzig  :  H.  Reuther.     i88i- 

Merx,  Adalbert.  Grammatica  Syriaca  quam  post  Hoff- 
manni.     Halis :  Lib.  Orphanotrophei.     1867. 

SxMiTH,  R,  Payne.  Thesaurus  Syriacus  collegerunt  S.  M. 
Quatremere,  G.  H.  Bernstein,  .G.  W.  Lorsbach,  A.  J.  Ar- 
nold, C.  M.  Agrell,  F.  Field,  A.  Roediger,  auxit,  digessit, 
exposuit,  edidit.  Oxonii,  e  typographeo  Clarendomano. 
1868-83.  (6  Fasciculi  as  far  as  page  2256  have  been  pub- 
lished completing  the  letter  Mem.) 

Noeldeke,  Theo.  Mandaische  Grammatik.  Halle  :  Wais- 
enhaus.     1875. 

(3)  Arabic  and  iEthiopic. 

tWRiGHT,  William.  A  Grammar  of  the  Arabic  Language. 
Translated  from  the  German  of  Caspari  and  edited  with 
numerous  additions  and  corrections.  2d  edition.  2  vols. 
London  :  F,  Norgate.     1874-5. 

fPETERMANN,  J,  H.     Brevis  Linguae  Arabicae  grammatica, 
litteratura,  chrestomathia  cum  glossario.     Editio  secunda. 
Berolini:  G.  Eichler.     1867. 
19 


434  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

f  Freytag,  G.  W.  Lexicon  Arabico-Latinum.  4  Tom.  Halis  : 
C.  A.  Schwetschke  et  Filium.     1830-37. 

fDiLLMANN,  August.  Grammatik  der  Aethiopischen  Sprache, 
Leipzig:  T.  O.  Weigel.     1857. 

f DiLLMANN,  August.  Chrestomathia  Aethiopica.  Lipsiae  : 
T.O.  Weigel.     1866. 

fDiLLMANN,  August.  Lexicon  Linguae  Aethiopicae.  Lip- 
siae :  T.  O.  Weigel.     1865. 

Arnold,  F.  A.  Chrestomathia  Arabica.  Halis  :  C-  E.  M. 
Pfeffer.     1853. 

Catafalgo,  Joseph.  An  English  and  Arabic  Dictionary. 
2d  edition.     London  :  Bernard  Quaritch.     1873. 

Wahrmund,  Adolph.  Handworterbuch  der  Arabischen  iind 
Deutschen  Sprache  (Modern  Arabic).  2  Bande.  Giessen  : 
J.   Ricker.     1870-77. 

Penrice,  John.  A  Dictionary  and  Glossary  of  the  Koran. 
London:  H.  S.  King  &  Co.     1873. 

Lane,  Eward  William.  An  Arabic  Lexicon^  derived  from 
the  best  and  most  copious  Eastern  sources,  comprising  a 
very  large  collection  of  words  and  significations  omitted 
in  the  Kamoos,  with  supplements  to  its  abridged  and  de- 
fective explanations,  ample  grammatical  and  critical  com- 
ments, and  examples  in  prose  and  verse.  Vols.  I.-V. 
Williams  &  Norgate.  1863-74.  Continued  under  the 
editorship  of  Stanley  Lane  Poole.  Vol.  V.,  1877,  Vol.  VL 
1-2,  1 881-2.  (Completed  as  far  as  2640  pages  of  the 
whole  work.) 

Dozy,  R.  Supplement  aiix  Dictionaires  Arabes.  2  Tomes. 
Leyde  :  E.  J.  Brill.     1881. 

Pretorius,  Franz.  Amharische  Sprache.  Halle  :  Waisen- 
haus.     1879. 

(4)  Phoenician  and  Samaritan. 

fScHROEDER,  P.  Die  Phonizische  Sprache.  Entwurf  einer 
Grammatik  nebst  Sprach  und  Schriftproben.  Halle  :  Wai- 
senhaus.     1869. 

f  Levy,  M.  A.  Phonizisches  IVorterbiich.  Breslau :  H. 
Skutsch.     1864. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDJ.  435 

fPETERMANN,  J.  H.  Brcvis  Linguae  Samaritanae.  Bero- 
lini  :  G.  Eichler.     1873. 

(5)  Assyrian  and  Babylonian. 

fDELiTzscH,  Fried.  Assyrische  Lesestiicke.  2te  Aufl.  Leip- 
zig: J.  C.  Heinrichs.     1878. 

f Sayce,  a.  H.     An  Assyrian  Grammar  for  comparative  pur- 
poses.    London  :  Trubner  &  Co.     1872. 

fSCHRADER,   Eberhard.     Assyrtsckes  Syllabar  fur  den  Ge- 
brauch  in  seinen  Vorlesungen  zusammengestellt.     Berlin  : 
Koniglichen  Acad.  d.  Wissenschaften.     i88o. 

Schrader,  Eberhard.  Die  Assyrisches-babylonische  Keilin- 
schriften.  Kritische  Untersuchungen  der  Grundlagen  ihrer 
Entzifferung.     Leipzig:  F.  A.  Brockhaus.     1872. 

Norris,  Edm.  Assyrian  Dictionary.  3  vols.  London  : 
Williams  &  Norgate.     1868-72. 

Sayce,  A.  H.  Lectures  upon  the  Assyrian  Language  and  Syl- 
labary.    London  :  S.  Bagster  &  Sons.     1877. 

Sayce,  A.  H.     Babylonian  Literature.     Lectures  delivered  at 
the  Royal  Institution.     London  :  Samuel  Bagster  &  Sons. 
.  1879. 

Oppert,  Jules.  Eliments  de  la  Grammaire  Assyrien'e.  2me 
Edition.     Paris:  A.  Franck.     1868. 

(6)  Greek. 

f  Winer,  G.  B.  Grammatik  des  Neulest.  Sprachidioms.  7  Aufl. 
von  G.  Liinemann.  Leipzig  :  F.  C.  W.  Vogel.  1867. 
A  Treatise  of  the  Grammar  of  New  Testament  Greek^  re- 
garded as  a  sure  basis  for  New  Testament  Exegesis. 
Translated  from  the  German,  with  large  additions  and 
full  indices.  2d  edition  by  W.  F.  Moulton.  8th  English 
edition.  T.  &  T.  Clark.  1877.  A  Grammar  of  the 
Ldiom  of  the  New  Testament.  7  th  edition,  enlarged  and 
improved  by  G.  Liinemann.  Revised  and  authorized 
translation.  By  J.  H.  Thayer  Andover:  W.  F.  Draper. 
1877. 

f  Robinson,  Edward.  A  Greek  and  English  Lexicon  of  the 
New  Testament.  A  new  edition.  New  York  :  Harper  & 
Brothers.     1872. 


436  •  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

fCREMER,  Hermann.  Biblisch-theologisches  Worterbuch  der 
Neictestamentlichen  Grdcitdt.  3te  sehr  vermehrte  und  ver- 
besserte  Auflage.  Gotha :  F.  A.  Perthes.  1881-83. 
Biblico- Theological  Lexicon  of  New  Testament  Greek. 
Translated  from  the  German  of  the  2d  edition  with  ad- 
ditional matter  and  corrections  by  the  author.  By  Wil- 
liam Urwick.     Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1878. 

fScoTT,  Robert.  A  Greek-English  Lexicon.  Compiled  by 
H.  G.  Liddell  and  Robert  Scott.  7th  edition,  revised  and 
augmented  throughout  with  the  co-operation  of  Professor 
Drisler.     New  York  :   Harper  &  Brothers.     1883. 

f  Green,  T.  S.  A  Grammar  of  the  New  Testament  Dialect. 
London  :  S.  Bagster  &  Sons.     1872. 

BuTTMANN,  Alexander.  Grammatik  des  Neutestament. 
Sprachgebrauchs.  2  Abtheil.  Berlin:  Diimraler.  1857-59. 
A  Grammar  of  the  New  Testament.  Authorized  translation 
by  J.  H.  Thayer,  with  numerous  additions  and  corrections 
by  the  author.     Andover :  W.  F.  Draper.     1873. 

Jelf,  W.  E.  Grammar  of  the  Greek  Language.  4th  edition. 
2  vols.     Oxford  :  James  Parker  &  Co.     1866. 

WiLKE,  C.  G.  Clavis  N.  T.  philologica.  3  Edit,  emendata  et 
aucta  von  W.  Grimm.     Leipzig:  Lib.  Arnoldiana.     1879. 

CuRTius,  George.  Grundzilge  der  Griechischen  Etymologic. 
2  Aufl.  Leipzig  :  B.  G.  Tuchner.  1866.  Principles  of 
Greek  Etymology.  Translated  with  the  sanction  of  the 
author  by  A.  S.  Wilkins  and  E.  B.  England.  2  vols. 
London  :  John  Murray.    1875-6. 

Schmidt,  J.  H.  Synonymik  der  Griechischen  Sprache.  3 
Bande.     Leipzig  :  B.  G.  Treubner.     1876-79. 

Trench,  R.  C.  Synonyms  of  the  New  Testament.  The  two 
parts  in  one.  9th  edition,  revised.  London  :  Macmillan 
&  Co.     1880. 

Webster,  William.  The  Syntax  aud  Synonyms  of  the  Greek 
Testament.     London  :  Rivingtons.     1864. 

Sophocles,  E.  A.  A  Greek  Lexicon  of  the  Roman  and  Byzan- 
tine Periods.     Boston:  Little,  Brown  &  Co.     1870. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  437 


III.— The  Canon  of  Scripture. 

♦Charteris,  a.  H.  The  Neiv  Testament  Scriptures :  their 
claims,  history,  and  authority.  Being  the  Croall  Lectures 
for  1882.  London  :  James  Nisbet  &  Co.  New  York  : 
Robert  Carter  &  Brothers.     1882. 

fSxuART,  Moses.  Critical  History  and  defence  of  the  Old 
Testament  Canon.  Andover  :  W.  F.  Draper.  1865.  Ed- 
ited, with  occasional  notes  and  references,  by  Peter  Lori- 
mer.     London  :  William  Tegg  &  Co.     1849. 

fWESTCOTT,  B.  F.     A  General  Survey  of  the  History  of  the     ^ 
Canon  of  the  New    Testament.     5  th   edition.     London  : 
Macmillan  &  Co.     1881. 

Charteris,  a.  H.  a  Collection  of  Early  Testimonies  to  the 
Canonical  Books  of  the  New  Testament.  Based  on  Kirch- 
hofer's  Quellensammlung.  Edinburgh  :  William  Black- 
wood &  Sons.     1880. 

Reuss,  Edward.  Histoire  du  Canon  des  Saintes-Ecritures 
dans  r£glise  Chr^tienne.  2  edition.  Strasbourg  :  Treut- 
tel  et  Wurtz.     1863. 

CosiN,  John.  Scholastical  History  of  the  Canon  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  London  :  R.  Norton.  1657.  In  Vol.  IlL  of 
Works.     Oxford  :  J.  H.  Parker.     1849. 

Fuerst,  Julius.  Der  Kanon  des  Alt.  Test,  nach  den  Ueber- 
lieferungen  in  Talmud  und  Midrasch.  Leipzig:  Dorf- 
fling  &  Franke.     1868. 

Davidson,  Samuel.  The  Canon  of  the  Bible :  its  formation, 
history,  and  fluctuations-  3d  edition.  London  :  C.  Ke- 
gan  Paul.     1880. 

Credner,  C  a.  Gesch.  d.  neutest.  Kanon  herausgegeben  von 
G.  Volkmar.     Berlin  :  G.  Reimer.     i860. 

Zahn,  Theodor.    Forchungen  zur  Gesch.  des  neutest.  Kanons 
^  u.  der  altkirchl.  Literatur.    I  Theil :   Tatian's  Diatessaron. 
^  II    Thiel :   der  Evangeliencommentar  des    Theophilus  von 
Antiochen.     Erlangen  :  A.  Deichert.     1881-3. 


438  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

IV.— The  Text  of  Scripture. 

■  (i)  The  Originals  and  Versions. 

(a)  Of  the  whole  Bible. 

*  The  Holy  Bible,  coniaXmng  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 
Translated  out  of  the  original  tongues,  and  with  the  former 
translations  diligently  compared  and  revised.  New  York  : 
American  Bible  Society. 

'''The  Holy  Bible,  con\.a\nmg  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 
Translated  out  of  the  original  tongues,  and  with  the  form- 
er translations  diligently  compared  and  revised,  by  his 
majesty's  special  command.  The  S.  S.  Teacher's  edition. 
Oxford  :  Printed  at  the  University  Press. 

^Cambridge  Paragraph  Bible  of  the  Authorized  English  Ver- 
sion,  with  the  text  revised,  the  marginal  references  remod- 
elled, and  a  critical  introduction  prepared  by  F.  H.  Scriv- 
ener.    Cambridge  :    Deighton,  Bell  &  Co.     1873. 

fSxiER,  R.,  and  K.  G.  W.  Theile.  Polyglotten-Bibel  zum 
praktischen  Handgebrauch.  Die  Heilige  Schrift  Alten 
und  Neuen  Testaments  in  iibersichtlicher  Nebeneinander- 
stellung  des  Urtextes,  der  Septuaginta,  Vulgata,  und  Lu- 
theriibersetzung,  so  wie  der  wichtigsten  Varianten  der 
vornehmsten  deutschen  Uebersetzungen.  5  Bande.  Bie- 
lefeld :  Velhagen  &  Klasing.     1864. 

Walton,  Brian.  ^.  S.  Biblia-Polyglotta.  Complectentia 
Textus  Originales  Hebraicum  cum  Pentateucho  Samari- 
tano  Chaldaicum  Graecum  Versionumque  Antiqarum  Sa- 
maritanae  Graeco-Sept.,  Chaldaicae,  Syriacae,  Lat.  Vulg. 
Arabicae,  Aethiopicae,  Persicae,  quicquid  comparari  pote- 
rat.     6   vol.  folio.     London:  Thos.  Roycroft.     1657. 

Bibliorwn  Codex  Sinaiticus  Petropolitanus  ed.  Constantinus 
Tischendorf.     4  vol.     Petropoli.     1862. 

Bibliorum  sacrorum  graecus  codex  Vaticaniis  coUatis  studiis 
Caroli  Vercellone  et  Josephi  Cozza,  editus.  Folio.  6 
Tom.     Roma.     1869-1881. 

DiLi.MANN,  A.  Biblia  Veteris  Testamenti  Aethiop.  Tom  i. 
Octateuchus,  1853-55.  II.  Libri  Re  gum,  Paralipome- 
non  EsdraCf  Esther.    Leipzig  :  F.  A.  Brockhaus.    1861-72. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  439 

Codex  Alexandrinus,  facsimile,  printed  in  photo-lithography.  4 
Parts  folio.  An  absolute  fac-simile  produced  by  order  of 
the  Trustees  of  the  British  Museum.  London.  1879-81. 
(The  New  Testament  and  Part  I.  of  the  Old  Testament 
have  appeared.) 

(b)  Of  the  Old  Testament. 

\Biblia  Hebraica  ad  optimas  editiones  imprimis  Ev.  van  der 
Hooght.  cur.  etc.  C  G.  Guil.  Theile.  Ed.  Steor.  V.  Lip- 
siae  :  B.  Tauchnitz.     1873. 

\Liber  Genesis  Textum  Massoreticum  accuratissime  expressit, 
e  fontibus  masorae  varie  illustravit,  notis  cnticis  confir- 
mavit  S.  Baer.  '  Praefatus  est.  Fr.  Delitzsch.  Lipsiae  : 
B.  Tauchnitz,  1869  ;  L.  Jesajae,  1872  ;  L.  Jobty  \2>TS  ; 
L.  duodecim  Prophet.  1878  ;  L.  Fsalmorum,  1880  ;  Z.  Fro- 
verbiorum,  1880  ;  Libri  Danielis  Ezrae  et  Nehetmae,   1882. 

\  Testament  urn  Vetus,  graece  jiixta  LXX  interpretes  Text.  Vatic 
rom.  emend,  ed.  argum.  et  locos  n.  test,  parall.  notavit, 
omnem  lect.  variet.  cod.  vetus.  Alex.,  Ephr.  Syri.,  Fr. 
August,  subjunxit,  proleg.  uberrimis  instr.  Const,  de 
Tischendorf.  Ed.  VI.  Prolegomena  rec.  Nestle.  2  tom. 
Lipsiae:  F.  A.  Brockhaus.     1880. 

Prophetarum  posteriorum  codex  B(}bylonicus  Petropolitanus, 
ed.  Herm.  Strack.  Editio  Biblio.  impenahs.  Petropoli. 
1876. 

Biblia  Hebrae,  cum  utraque  Masora  et  Targum  item  cum  com." 
mentariis  sabbinorum  studio.  Joan.  Buxtorfii  5  Tom.  folio. 
Basileae  :  L.  Kbnig.     1618-20. 

Etheridge,  J.  W.  The  Targums  of  Onkelos  and  Jonathan 
ben  Uzziel  on  the  Pentateuch  j  with  the  fragments  of  Je- 
rusalem Targum.  From  the  Chaldee.  2  vols.  London: 
Longmans,  Green  &  Co.     1862-1865. 

Petermann,  J.  H.  Pentateuchus  Satnaritanus  Ad  fidem  Hbro- 
rum  mss.  apud  Nablusianos  repertorum  I.  Genesis.  Ber- 
lin :  Moeser.     1872. 

Petermann,  J.  H.  Versuch  einer  hebr.  Formenlehre  nach  der 
Aussprache  der  heut.  Samaritaner.    Leipzig  :  F.  A.  Brock- 

•  haus.  1868.  (Contains  variation  of  Samaritan  MSS.  from 
the  Massoretic.) 


440  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Ceriani,  a.  M.  Codex  Syro-hexaplaris  Ambrosianus  photo- 
lithographice  editus  curante.  Mailand  :  Biblio.  Ambrosi- 
anae.     1874. 

Origenis  Hexaplorum  quae  snpersunt  j  sive  veterum  interpre- 
tum  Graecorum  in  totum  V.  T.  fragmenta,  adhibita  etiam 
versione  syro-hexaplari  concinnavit  emendavit  et  multis 
partibus  auxit.     2  vols.     Oxford:  Fred.  Field.     1867-75. 

(c)  Of  the  New  Testament. 

*  The  New  Testament  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ 
translated  out  of  the  Greek :  being  the  version  set  forth 
A.D.  161 1,  compared  with  the  most  ancient  authorities  and 
revised  a.d.  1881.  Printed  for  the  Universities  of  Oxford 
and  Cambridge.    Oxford  :  At  the  University  Press.    1881. 

*The  New  Testament  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ 
translated  out  of  the  Greek  :  being  the  version  set  forth 
A.D.  161 1,  compared  with  the  most  ancient  authorities  and 
revised  a.d.  1881,  with  the  readings  and  renderings  pre- 
ferred by  the  American  Committee  of  Revision,  incorpo- 
rated into  the  text.  By  Roswell  D.  Hitchcock.  New 
York:  Fords,  Howard  &  tturbert.     1881. 

\  The  New  Testament  in  the  Original  Greek.  The  Text  re- 
vised by  B.  F.  Westcott  and  F.  J.  A.  Hort,  with  Introduc- 
tion and  Appendix  by  the  editors.  2  vols.  Cambridge  : 
Macmillan  &  Co.  1881.  New  York  :  Harper  &  Brothers. 
1881-2. 

f  Gardiner,  F.  A  Harmony  of  the  Four  Gospels  in  Greek, 
according  to  the  text  of  Tischendorf,  with  a  collation  of 
the  Textus  Receptus,  and  of  the  Texts  of  Griesbach, 
Lachmann,  and  Tregelles.  Andover :  W.  F.  Draper. 
Edinburgh:  T.  &  T.Clark.     187 1. 

Novum  Testamentum  Graece.  Ad  antiquissimos  testes  denuo 
recensuit  apparatum  criticum  omni  studio  perfectum  ap- 
posuit  commendationem  isagogicam  praetexuit  C  Tischen- 
dorf. Editio  octava  critica  major.  2  Bde.  Lipsiae  :  Gie- 
secke  &  Devrient.     1869-72. 

Tregelles,  Samuel  P.  The  Greek  New  Testament.  Edited 
from  ancient  authorities.  London :  Bagster  &  Sons. 
1857-72. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  4.41 

K.USHBROOKE,  W.  G.  Synopticon.  An  exposition  of  the  com- 
mon matter  of  the  Synoptic  Gospels,  with  Appendices. 
London:  Macmillan  &  Co.     1880. 

Novum  Testamentum  Graece  et  Latine.  Car.  Lachmannus  re- 
censuit,  Phil  Buttmannus  graecae  lectiones  auctoritates 
apposuit.     2  Tom.     Berolini :  G.  Reimer.     1832-50. 

Novum  Testamentum  Graecum.  Textus  Stephanici  1550. 
Accedunt  variae  lectiones  editionum  Bezae,  Elzeviri,  Lach- 
manni,  Tischendorfii  et  Tregellessii.  Curante  F.  H. 
Scrivener.     Cambridge:  Deighton,  Bell  &  Co.     1872. 

Robinson,  Edward.  A  Harmony  of  the  Four  Gospels  in 
Greek,  according  to  the  text  of  Hahn.  Revised  edition. 
Boston  :  Crocker  &  Brewster.     1872. 

TisCHENDORF,  CoNST.  Synopsis  rvangelica.  IV.  evang.  or- 
dine  chronolog.  concinnavit,  brevi  comment,  illustr.  4te 
Aufl.     Leipzig:  Mendelssohn.     1878. 

The  English  Hexapla.  Six  translations  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament:  Wiclif,  1380;  Tyndale,  1554;  Cranmer,  1539; 
Genevan,  1557  ;  Anglo-Rhemish,  1582  ;  Authorized,  161 1  ; 
arranged  in  parallel  columns,  beneath  the  original  Greek 
text,  by  Scholtz.  With  a  History  of  English  translations 
and  translators.     London  :  Samuel  Bagster  &  Sons. 


"o- 


(2)  Concordances. 

*YouNG,  Robert.  Analytical  Concordance  to  the  Bible,  on  an 
entirely  new  plan,  containing  every  word  in  alphabetical 
order,  arranged  under  its  Hebrew  or  Greek  original,  with 
the  literal  meaning  of  each  and  its  pronunciation.  3d  re- 
vised edition.  Edinburgh  :  G.  A.  Young  &  Co.  New 
York:  L  K.  Funk  &  Co.     1880. 

*Cruden,  Alexander.  A  Complete  Concordance  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures.     New  York:  Dodd  &  Mead.     1870. 

fTnOMS,  J.  A.  A  complete  Concordance  to  the  revised  Version 
of  the  New  Testament.  Embracing  the  marginal  readings 
of  the  English  Revisers  as  well  as  those  of  the  American 
Committee.  Published  under  the  authorization  of  the 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  Universities.  New  York :  Charles 
Scribner's  Sons.  1883. 
19* 


44:2  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

f  Hudson,  C.  F.  A  Critical  Greek  and  English  Concordance 
of  the  New  Testament.  Revised  and  completed  by  Ezra 
Abbot.     3d  edit.     Boston:  H.L.Hastings.     1875. 

f  Davidson,  B.  Englishman  s  Hebrew  and  Chaldee  Concord- 
ance of  the  Old  Testatnent.  3d  ed.  2  vols.  London  :  S. 
Bagster  &  Sons.     1874. 

FuERST,  Julius.  Librorum  SacroKum  Veteris  Testamenti 
Concardantiae  Hebraicae  atque  Chaldaicae.  Lipsiae :  B. 
Tauchnitz.     1840. 

NoLDius,  Christianus.  Concordantiae  particularum  Ebraeo- 
Chaldaicarum.  J.  G.  Tympius  recensuit.  Jena :  J.  F. 
Bielck.     1734. 

Tromius,  Abraham.  Concordantiae  Graecae  Versio  vulgo  dic- 
tae  LXX  interpretum.  2  Tomi.  Amstelodami :  Sumpti- 
bus  Societatis.     1718. 

Bruder,  a.  v.  H.  Concordantiae  omnium  vocum  Novi  Testa- 
mentum  Graecae.    5  edit.    Lipsiae:  Ernest  Bredt.    1880. 

(3)  Textual  Criticism  of  the  Old  Testament. 

fSxRACK,  Herm.  L.  Prolegomena  Critica  in  Vetus  Testamen- 
turn  Hebraicum.     Leipzig:  J.  C.  Hinrichs.     1873. 

Davidson,  Sam.  Treatise  on  Biblical  Criticism.  2  vols. 
Boston:  Gould  &  Lincoln.     1853. 

Ginsberg,  C.  The  Massorah.  Compiled  from  manuscripts 
alphabetically  and  lexically  arranged.  Vol.  I.  Aleph- 
Jodh.     London.     1880. 

Levita,  Elias.  The  Massoreth  Ha-Massoreth,  being  an  ex- 
position of  the  Massoretic  notes  on  the  Hebrew  Bible,  or 
the  ancient  critical  apparatus  of  the  Old  Testament  in 
Hebrew,  with  an  English  translation  and  critical  and  ex- 
planatory notes.  By  C  D.  Ginsberg.  London  :  Long- 
mans, Green,  Reader  &  Dyer.     1867. 

BuxTORF,  John.  Tiberius  sive  commentarius  Masorethicus. 
Basle  :  Lud.  Konig.     1620. 

Cappellus,  Ludovic.  Critica  Sacra  s.  de  variis  quae  in 
sacris.  V.  T.  libris  occurrunt  lectionibus  libri  VL  Lute- 
tiae  Parisiorum  :  Sebast.  Cramoisy.     1650. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  443 

Kennicott,  Benj.  Vetus  Test.  Heb.  cum  variis  lectionibus. 
2  Tom.  folio.     Oxonii,  e  typo  Clarend.     17 76-1 780. 

DeRossi,  J.  B.  Variae  lectiones  Vet-  Test.  4  Tom.  Parma. 
1784-1788  ;  also,  Scholia  critica  in  V.  T.  libros  seu  sup- 
plementa  ad  varias  sacri  textus  lectiones.  Palma :  Ex 
regio  typographeo.     1798. 

Frensdorf,  S.  Die  Massora  Magna  ;  Erster  Theil,  Masso- 
retisches  Worterbuch.  Hanover  und  Leipzig  :  Cohen  & 
Risch.     1876. 

WiCKES,  William.  Treatise  on  the  Accentuation  of  the  three 
so-called  poetic  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  Oxford  : 
Clarendon  Press.     188  r. 

Frankel,  Z.  Vorstudien  zu  der  Septuaginta.  Leipzig:  F.  C  W. 
Vogel.     1841. 

RoNSCH,  H,  Itala  und  Vulgata.  Das  Sprachidiom  der  ur- 
christl.  Itala  und  Kathol.  Vulgata  unter  Berucksichtigung 
der  Rom.  Volkssprache  erlautert.  Marburg  :  N.  G.  El- 
wert.     1869. 

Ziegler,  L.  Die  Lateinischen  Bibelilbersetzung  vor  Hierony- 
mas  und  die  Itala  des  Augustinus.  Ein  Beitrag  zur  Gesch. 
d.  Heil.  Schrift.     Munchen  :  Th.  Riedel.  1879. 

Walton,  Brian.  In  Biblia  Polyglotta  Prolegomena  specialia 
recognovit  Dathianisque  et  variorum  notis  suas  immis- 
cuit  F.  Wrangham.  2  Tom.  Cantabrigiae  :  T.  Smith. 
1828. 

(4)  Textual  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament. 

*Mombert,  J.  I.  A  Handbook  of  the  English  Versions  of  the 
Bible.     New  York  :  A.  D.  F.  Randolph  &  Co.     1883. 

f  Scrivener,  F.  H.  Introduction  to  the  Criticism  of  the  New 
Testament.  3d  edit.  Cambridge :  Deighton,  Bell  &  Co. 
1883. 

f  SCH.A.FF,  P.  Companion  to  the  Greek  Testament  and  the  En- 
glish Version.     New  York:  Harper  &  Brothers.      1883. 

Kaulen,  Fr.  Handbuch  zur  Vulgata.  Eine  systeraatische 
Darstellung  ihres  lateinischen  Sprachcharakters.  Mainz  : 
Kirchheim,     1870. 


444:  BIBLICAL  STUDF. 

Eadie,  John.  The  English  Bible.  An  external  and  critical 
History  of  the  various  English  Translations  of  Scripture. 
2  vols.     Macmillan  &  Co.     1876. 

Tholuck,  a.  Das  Alte  Teslamenf  im  Neuen  Testament.  6 
Aufl.     Gotha  :  F.  Perthes.     1868. 

BoEHL,  Edward.  Die  alttestamentlichen  Citate  im  Neuen  Tes- 
tament.    Wein  :  W.  Braumiiller.     1878. 

TuRPiE,  D.  M.  The  Old  Testament  in  the  New.  A  Contri- 
bution to  Biblical  Criticism  and  Interpretation.  London  : 
Williams  &  Norgate.     1868. 

V. — The  Higher  Criticism. 

(i)  The  Old  Testament. 

*Cross,  J.  A.  Introductory  Hints  to  English  Readers  of  the 
Old  Testament.     London  :  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.    1882. 

*Smith,  W.  Robertson.  The  Old  Testament  in  the  Jewish 
Church.  London  :  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.  1881.  New 
York  :  D.  Appleton  &  Co.     1881. 

fBLEEK,  Fred.  Einleitung  in  das  N.  T.  4te  Aufl.  Bearbeitet 
von  J.  Wellhausen.  Berlin  :  G.  Reimer.  1878.  Trans- 
lated from  the  2d  German  edition  by  G.  H.  Venables.  2 
vols.     London.     1875. 

Davidson,  Samuel.  An  Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament, 
critical,  historical,  and  theological.  3  vols.  London  : 
Williams  &  Norgate.     1862-3. 

Keil,  K.  F.  Lehrbuch  der  historisch-kritisch.  Einleitung  in  d. 
kanonischen  und  apokryphischen  Schriften  d.  A.  T.  Frank- 
furt-a-Maine  :  Heyder  &  Zimmer.  3te*  Aufl.  1873. 
Trans,  by  C.  M.  Douglas.  2  vols.  Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T. 
Clark.     1869. 

DeWette,  W.  M.  L.  Lehrbuch  der  historisch-kritischen  Ein- 
leitung in  die  kanonischefi  tmd  apokryphischen  Biicher  des 
Alten  Testaments.  Neu  bearbeitet  von  Eberhard  Schrader. 
8te  Ausgabe.  Berlin  :  G.  Reimer.  1869.  Translated 
from  the  German  edition  and  enlarged  by  Theodore  Par- 
ker.    2  vols.     Boston  :  Little  &  Brown.     1843. 

Kleinert,  Paul.  Abriss  der  Einleitung  zuin  A.  Tin  Tabellen- 
form.     Berlin  :  G.  W.  F.  Muller.     1878. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  445 

Simon,  Richard.  Histoire  Critique  dii  Vieux  Testament. 
Rotterdam  :  R.  Leers.     1685. 

EiCHHORN,  J.  G.  Einleitung  in  das  Alte  Testament.  4te 
Aufl.     5  Bde.     Gottingen :  Lauffer.     1823-4. 

NoLDEKE,  Theo.  Die  Alttestamentliche  Literatur  in  einer 
Reihe  von  Aufsatzen.    Leipzig:  Quardt  &  Handel.    1868. 

Reuss,  Edward.  Die  Geschichte  der  heiligen  Schriften  Al- 
ien Testaments.  Braunschweig :  C-  A.  Schwetschke  & 
Sohn.     188  r. 

Haevernick,  H.  a.  C.  Handbuch  der  historisch-kritischen 
Einleitung  in  das  Alte  Testament.  3  Bande.  Erlangen  : 
Carl  Heyden.  1836-49.  2te  Aufl.  von  C.  F.  Keil. 
Frankfurt  und  Erlangen.     L  i,  1854  ;  IL  2,  1856. 

(2)  Higher  Criticism  of  parts  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. 

*Murray,  Thomas  C.  Lectures  on  the  Origin  and  Grmvth 
of  the  Psalms.  New  York :  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 
1880. 

*Smith,  W«  R.  The  Prophets  of  Israel.  London  :  Long- 
mans, Green  &  Co.  New  York :  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
1882. 

*Green,  William  Henry.  Moses  and  the  Prophets.  New 
York  :  Robert  Carter  &  Brothers.     1883. 

*Taylor,  Isaac.  The  Spirit  of  Hebretv  Poetry.  London  : 
Bell  &  Daldy.  186 1.  New  York:  Rudd  &  Carleton. 
1862.     With  a  biographical  introduction  by  Wm.  Adams. 

LowTH,  Wm.  De  Sacra  Poesi  Hebraeorum,  ....  cum  notis 
et  epimetris,  J.  D.  Michaelis,  .  .  .  .  ed.  E.  F  C.  Rosen- 
miiller,  Oxonii,  1821.  Lectures  on  the  Sacred  Poetry  of 
the  Hebrews.  Translated  from  the  original  Latin  by  G. 
Gregory.  A  new  edition,  with  notes  by  C.  E.  Stowe. 
Boston  :  Crocker  &  Brewster,     1829. 

Herder,  J.  G.  Vom  Geist  der  Hebr.  Poesie.  Dessau.  1782- 
83.  The  Spirit  of  Hebretv  Poetry.  Translated  from  the 
German  by  James  Marsh.  2  vols.  Burlington,  Vt.  :  E. 
D.  Smith.      1833. 

BiCKELL,  G.  Carmina  Veteris  Testamenti  Metrice.  Oeni- 
ponte:  Academica  Wagneriana.     1882. 


446  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

KuENEN,  A.  De  Profeten  en  de  profetie  in  der  Israel.  Leiden, 
1875.  The  Prophets  and  Prophecy  in  Israel.  Translated 
from  the  Dutch  by  the  Rev.  Adam  Milroy.  London  : 
Longmans,  Green  &  Co.     1877. 

Wellhausen,  J.  Prolegomena  zur  Geschichte  Israels.  2te 
Ausgabe  der  Gesch.  Israels.  Band  L  Berlin  :  G.  Reimer. 
1883. 

Binnie,  William.  The  Psalms :  their  History,  Teachings, 
and  Use.     London  :  T.  Nelson.     1870. 

Bruston,  Charles-  Histoire  critique  de  la  littirature  proph- 
dtiqiie  des  H^breux  depuis  les  origines  jusqua  la  mort  d' 
Isaie.     Paris:  G.  Fischbacher.     188 1. 

PusEY,  E.  B.  Daniel  the  Prophet.  Nine  Lectures,  delivered 
in  the  Divinity  school  of  the  University  of  Oxford.  3d 
edition.     Oxford  :  J.  Parker  &  Co.     1869. 

(3)  The  Higher  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament. 

jBleek,  Fred.  FJnleitung  in  d.  N.  T.  nach  dessen  Vorle- 
sungen  herausgegeben  von  J.  Bleek.  3te  Aufl.  von  Man- 
gold. Berlin:  G.  Reimer.  1875.  An  Introduction  to  the 
New  Testament.  Translated  by  W.  Urwick.  2  vols.  Edin- 
burgh :  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1869-70. 

Davidson,  Samuel.  An  Introduction  to  the  study  of  the  New 
Testament,  critical,  exegetical,  and  theological.  3  vols. 
London  :  S.  Bagster  &  Sons.     1848-51. 

Reuss,  Edward.  Die  Geschichte  der  h.  Schriften  N.  T.  5 
Aufl.     Braunschweig:  Schwetschke  &  Sohn.     1874. 

DeWette,  W.  M.  L.  Lehrbuch  d.  hist.-krit.  Einleit.  in  die  ka- 
non.  BUcher  des  N.  T.  6te  Aufl.  von  Messner  «Sc  Liine- 
mann.     Berlin  :  G.  Reimer.     i860. 

MiCHAELis,  J.  D.  Einleitung  in  d.  gottl.  Schriften  des  N. 
Bundes.  4te  Aufl.  Gottingen :  Vandenhok.  1788.  In- 
troduction to  the  New  Testament.  Translated  into  En- 
glish with  additions  by  Herbert  Marsh.  6  vols.  4  edi- 
tion.    London  :  F.  C  &  J.  Rivington.     1823. 

Hertwig,  O.  R.  Tabellen  zur  Einl.  ins  N.  T.  4  Aufl.  von 
H.  Weingarten.     Berlin  :  G.  W.  F.  Miiller.     1872. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  447 

(4)  The  Higher  Criticism  of  parts  of  the  New 

Testament. 

*Westcott,  B.  F.  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Four  Gos- 
pels, with  historical  and  explanatory  notes.  6th  edition. 
London:  Macmillan  &  Co.     1881. 

f  Sand  AY,  W.  The  Gospels  in  thr  Second  Century.  London  : 
Macmillan  &  Co.     1876. 

f  Abbot,  Ezra.  The  Authorship  of  the  Fourth  Gospel.  Ex- 
ternal evidences.     Boston  :  G.  H.  Ellis.     1880. 

Mill,  W.  H.  Observations  on  the  attempted  application  of 
Pantheistic  Principles  to  the  theory  and  historical  criticism 
of  the  Gospel.  2d  edition  edited  by  B.  Webb.  Cam- 
bridge :  Deighton,  Bell  &  Co.     186 r. 

TiSCHENDORF,  CoNST.  Wann  wurden  unsere  Evangelien  ver- 
fasst.  4te  Aufl.,  J.  C  Heinrichs,  1880.  Origin  of  the 
Four  Gospels.  Translated  into  English.  Boston  :  Am. 
Tract  Society.     1868. 

Lardner,  Nathaniel.  The  Credibility  of  the  Gospel  His- 
tory.    5  vols.     London  :  W.  Ball.     1838. 

Ebrard,  J.  H.  A.  Wissenschaftliche  Kritik  der  evangelischen 
Geschichte.  3te  Aufl.  Frankfurt-a-M.  :  Heyder  &  Zim- 
mer.      1868. 

Weiss,  Bernard.  Das  Matthdus  Evangelium  und  seine  Lu- 
cas-parallelen  erklart.     Halle  :  Waisenhaus.     1876. 

Weiss,  Bernard.  Das  Marcus  Evangelium  und  seine  syn- 
optischen  Farallelen  erklart.     Berlin  :  W.  Hertz.     1872. 

VI. — The  Interpretation  of  Scripture. 

(i)  Hermeneutics. 

*Spurgeon,  C.  H.  Commenting  and  Commentaries.  Two 
Lectures  addressed  to  the  students  of  the  Pastor's  College, 
....  together  with  a  catalogue  of -Biblical  Commen- 
taries and  Expositions.  London  :  Passmore  «&  Alabaster. 
New  York  :  Sheldon  &  Co.     1876. 

tLMMER,  A.  Henneneutik  des  N.  T.  Wittenberg  :  H.  Koel- 
ling.  1873.  Hermeneutics  of  the  New  Testament.  Trans- 
lated from  the  German  by  A.  H.  Neuman.  Andover  :  W. 
F.  Draper.     1877. 


44S  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

SCHLEIERMACHER,  Fred.  Hermefuutik  und  Kritik  mit  be- 
sorderer  Beziehung  auf  das  Neue  Test.  Aus  Schleier- 
macher's  handschrift.  Nachlasse  und  nachgeschriebenen 
Vorlesungen  herausgegeben  von  F.  Liicke.  Berlin  :  G. 
Reimer.     1838. 

Davidson,  Samuel.  Sacred  Hermeneutics.  Developed  and 
applied,  including  a  history  of  Biblical  Interpretation 
from  the  earliest  of  the  Fathers  to  the  Reformation. 
Edinburgh  :  Thomas  Clark.     1843. 

Klausen,  H.  N.  Hermeneutik  des  Neuen  Testaments  aus. 
dem  Danischen  ubersetzt  von  C  D.  Schmidt-Phiseldek. 
Leipzig:  K.  F.  Kohler.     1841. 

Rambach,  J.  J.  Institutiones  Hertneneuticae  Sacrae.  Editio 
octava,  cum  praef.  J.  F.  Buddei.  Jenae  :  J.  W.  Hartun- 
gil.     1764. 

Lange,  J.  D.  Grundriss  d.  biblischen  Hermetieutik.  Heidel- 
berg :  C.  Winter.      1878. 

McClelland,  Alex.  A  brief  treatise  on  the  Canon  and  In- 
terpretation of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  New  York :  Robert 
Carter  &  Bros.     i860. 

Ernesti,  J.  A.  Institutio  Interpretis  N.  T.  5  edit.  ed. 
C.  F.  Amnion.  1809.  Lipsiae  :  Weidmann.  Elementary 
Principles  of  Interpretation.  Translated  from  the  Latin, 
and  accompanied  by  notes,  with  an  appendix,  containing 
extracts  from  Morus,  Beck,  Keil,  and  Henderson.  By 
Moses  Stuart.  4th  edition.  Andover :  Allen,  Morrill  & 
Ward  well..     1842. 

Ginsberg,  C.  D.  The  Kabbalah :  its  doctrines,  develop- 
ment, and  Literature.  London :  Longmans,  Reader  & 
Dyer.     1865. 

KiHN,  Heinrich.  Theodor  von  Mopsuestia  zmd  Junilius  Af- 
ricanus  als  Exegeten.  Freiburg,  im  Breisgau  :  Herder. 
1880. 

Siegfried,  Carl.  Philo  von  Alexandria  als  Ausleger  des  Al- 
ien Testaments.     Jena:  H.  Dufft.     1875. 

DopKE,  J.  C.  C  Hermeneutik  der  neutestamentlichen  Schrift- 
stcller.     Leipzig  :  F.  C  W.  Vogel.     1829. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDT.  449 

Terry,  Milton  S.  Biblical  Hermeneutics.  A  Treatise  on 
the  Interpretation  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  New 
York  :  Phillips  &  Hunt.     1883.     (In  press.) 

(2)  Commentaries. 

(A)  On  the  whole  Bible. 

*Henry,  Matthew.  An  exposition  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments ;  wherein  each  chapter  is  summed  up  in  its  con- 
tents ;  the  sacred  Text  inserted  at  large,  in  distinct  Para- 
graphs, etc.  Edited  by  the  Rev.  Edward  Bickersteth. 
6  vols.  London:  H.  G.  Bohn.  1846.  9  vols.  New 
York  :  R.  Carter  &  Bros.     1876. 

fLANGE,  J.  P.  Critical,  doctrinal,  and  homiletical  Commentary 
on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  with  special  reference  to  ministers 
and  students,  in  connection  with  a  number  of  eminent 
European  divines.  Translated,  enlarged,  and  edited  by 
Philip  Schaff,  in  connection  with  American  scholars  of  va- 
rious evangelical  denominations.  25  vols.  New  York  : 
Chas.  Scribner's  Sons.  1867-82.  G^^«^j/>,  with  a  General 
Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament,  By  J.  P.  Lange.  Trans- 
lated from  the  German,  with  additions,  by  Tayler  Lewis  and 
A.  Gosman. — Exodus ^  by  C.  M.  Mead  ;  Leviticus,  by  F. 
Gardiner,  with  General  Introduction,  by  H.  Osgood. — Num- 
bers. By  J.  P.  Lange.  Translated  and  enlarged  by  Samuel 
T.  Lovvrie  and  A.  Gosman  ;  Deuteronomy,  by  F.  W.  J.  Shroe- 
der,  translated  and  enlarged  by  A.  Gosman. — Joshua,  by  F. 
R.  Fay,  translated,  with  additions,  by  George  R.  Bliss ; 
Judges  arid  Ruth,  by  Paulus  Cassel,  translated,  with  addi- 
tions, by  P.  H.  Steenstra. — \Samjiel,  by  C.  F.  D.  Erdmann, 
translated,  enlarged,  and  edited  by  C.  H.  Toy  and  J.  A.  Broa- 
dus. — f  Kings.  By  K.  G.  W.  F.  Bahr.  Book  I. ^  translated  and 
enlarged  by  Edwin  Harwood.  Book  II.,  translated  and  en- 
larged by  VV.  G.  Sumner. — Chronicles  I.  and  11.^  hyir  Otto 
Zockler,  translated,  enlarged,  and  edited  by  James  G.  Mur- 
phy ;  f£zra,  by  Fr.  W.  Schultz,  translated,  enlarged,  and 
edited  by  Chas.  A.  Briggs ;  Nehemiah,  by  Howard  Crosby  ; 
Esther,  by  Fr.  VV.  Schultz,  translated,  enlarged,  and  edited 
by  James  Strong. — \Job.  A  Rhythmical  Version,  with  an 
Introduction  and  Annotation  by  Tayler  Lewis.  A  Com- 
mentary by  Otto  Zbckler,  translated  from  the  German,  with 
additions,  by  L.  J,  Evans.     Together  with  an  Introductory 


450  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Essay  on   Hebrew  Poetry  by  Philip   Schaff. —  The  Psalms. 
By  Carl  Bernhard  Moll.     Translated,  with  additions,  byC. 
A,  Briggs,  John  Forsyth,  J.   B.   Hammond,  and  J.  F.   Mc- 
Curdy.     With  a  new  Metrical  Version  of  the  Psalms,  .and 
■  Philological  notes,  by  T.   J.   Conant. — \Proverls,\iy  Otto 
Zockler,    translated   by  C.    A.    Aiken ;  Ecclesiastes,  by    O. 
Zockler,  translated  by  Wm.  Wells,  with  additions,  and  a  new 
Metrical  Version  by  Tayler  Lewis  ;  The  Song  of  Solomon, 
by  O.  Zockler,  translated,  with  additions,  by  W.  H.  Green. — 
Isaiah.     By  C.   W.   E.  Naegelsbach.     Translated,  with  ad- 
ditions, by  Samuel  T.  Lowrie  and  Dunlo})  Moore. — Jeremiah, 
by  C.  W.  E.  Naegelsbach,  translated  and  enlarged  by  S.  R. 
Asbury ;  Lamentations,  by  C.  VV.  E.  Naegelsbach,  translated 
and  enlarged  by  W.  H.  Hornblower. — Ezekiel.     By  F.  W.  J. 
Schroeder.      Translated,   edited,   and   enlarged  by    Patrick 
Fairbairn  and  William  Findlay,  aided  by  Thomas  Crerar  and 
Sinclair  Manson ;  Daniel,   translated,   edited,  and  enlarged 
by  James  Strong. — The  Minor  Prophets,  Hosea,  Joel,  and 
Amos,  by  Otto  Schmoller,  translated,  with  additions,  by  Jas. 
E.  McCurdy,  John  Forsyth,  and  Talbot  W.   Chambers,  re- 
spectively ;   Obadiah,  Jonah,  and  Micha,   by  Paul  Kleinert, 
translated,  with  additions,  by  George  R.  Bliss  ;  JVahum,  Ha- 
bakkiik,  and Zephaniah,   by  Paul   Kleinert,   translated,  with 
additions,  by  Chas.  Elliott ;  Haggai,  by  James  E.  McCiirdy  ; 
Zechariah,  by  T.  W.  Chambers ;  Malachi,  by  Joseph  Pack- 
ard, Index  to  the  14  vols,  on  the  Old  Testament,  by  B.  Pick. 
— \The  Apocrypha  of  the  Old  Testament. .   With  historical 
introductions,  a  revised   translation,  and  notes  critical  and 
explanatory.     By  E.  C.  Bissell. — Matthew.     With  a  General 
Introduction    to    the   New   Testament.     By  J.   P.    Lange. 
Translated,  with  additions,  by  Philip  Schaflf. — Mark.     By  J. 
P.  Lange.    Revised  from  the  Edinburgh  translation,  with  ad- 
ditions, by  W.  G.  T,  Shedd  ;  Luke,  by  J.  J.  Van  Oosterzee, 
translated,  with  additions,  by  Philip  Schafif  and  Charles  C. 
Starbuck.— /^///z.     By  John  P.  Lange.     Translated  by  E.  D, 
Yeomans  and  Evelina   Moore.     With  additions  by   E.    R. 
Craven    and   Philip   Schaff. — Acts.     By  G.  V.  Lechler   and 
Chas.  Gerok.     Translated,  with  additions,  by  C.  F.  Schaef- 
fer. — \Romans.     By  J.  P.  Lange   and    F.   R.  Fay.     Trans- 
lated  by  J.  F.  Hurst.     Revised  and   enlarged   by  P.  Schaff 
and  M.  B.  Riddle. — Corinthians.     By    Christian    F.    Kling. 
Translated,   with  additions,  by  D.  W.  Poor. — Galatians,  by 
Otto  Schmoller,  translated  by  C.  C.  Starbuck,  with  additions 
by  M.  B.  Riddle ;  Philippians,  by  Karl  Braune,  translated 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  4.5X 

and  enlarged  by  H.  B.  Hackett ;  Ephesians  and  Colossians, 
by  Karl  Braune,  translated  and  enlarged  by  M.  B.  Riddle. — 
Thessalonians,  by  Auberlen  and  Riggenbach,  translated  with 
additions,  by  John  Lillie ;  Timothy^  by  J.  J.  Van  Oosterzee, 
translated,  with  additions,  by  E.  A.  Washburn  and  E.  Har- 
wood  ;  Titus,  by  J.  J.  Van  Oosterzee,  translated,  with  addi- 
tions, by  Geo.  E.  Day ;  Philemon,  by  J.  J.  Van  Oosterzee, 
translated,  with  additions,  by  H.  B.  Hackett ;  Hebrews,  by 
Carl  B.  Moll,  translated,  with  additions,  by  A.  C.  Kendrick. 
— James,  by  J,  P.  Lange,  J.  J.  Van  Oosterzee ;  Peter,  by  P. 
F.  C.  Fronmiiller ;  John,  by  Karl  Braune  ;  Jude,  by  P.  F.  C. 
Fronmiiller,  all  translated,  with  additions,  by  Isidor  Mombert. 
— \The  Revelation  of  John.  By  J.  P.  I.ange.  Translated  by 
Evelina  Moore.  Enlarged  and  edited  by  E.  R.  Craven. 
Together  with  double  alphabetical  Index  to  the  ten  volumes 
on  the  New  Testament,  by  John  H.  Woods. 

The  Holy  Bible  according  to  the  authorized  Version  (a.d.  16  j  i), 
with  an  explanatory  and  critical  Commentary  and  a  revision 
of  the  translation,  by  bishops  and  other  clergy  of  the  Angli- 
can Church.  Edited  by  Y.  C.  Cook.  10  vols.  London  :  John 
Murray.  1871-81.  77/*? -^<7/y  ^/^/(?,  according  to  the  Author- 
ized Version.  With  explanatory  and  critical  notes,  and  a  re- 
vision of  the  translation  by  bishops  and  clergymen  of  the 
Church  of  England. — New  York  :  Chas,  Scribner's  Sons. 
1871-81.  Genesis^  by  E.  H.  Browne;  Exodus,  Chapters 
I.-XIX.  by  F.  C.  Cook,  and  XX.  to  the  end,  by  Samuel 
Clark  ;  Leviticus,  by  Samuel  Clark  ;  Numbers  and  Deuter- 
onomy, by  T.  E,  YjS^m.— Joshua,  by  T.  E.  Espin  ;  Judges, 
Ruth,  and  Samuel,  by  Arthur  Hervey  ;  \First  Kings,  by 
-George  Rawlinson. — \Second  Kings,  Chronicles,  Ezra, 
Nehemiah,    and  Esther,    by   George    Rawlinson. — Job,   by 

.  F.  C.  Cook  ;  Psalms,  by  G.  H.  S.  Johnson  and  C.  J.  Elliott ; 
Proverbs,  by  E.  H.  Plumptre ;  Ecclesiastes,  by  W.  T. 
Bullock  ;  Song  of  Solomon,  by  T.  L.  Kingsbury. — Isaiah, 
by  W.  Kay ;  Jeremiah  and  Lamentations,  R.  Payne 
Smith. — Ezekiel,  by  G.  Curry ;  Daniel,  by  H.  J.  Rose  and 
J.  M.  Fuller;  The  Minor  Prophets,  by  E.  Huxtable,  F. 
Meyrick,  R.  Gandell,  Sam"l  Clark,  F.  C.  Cook,  and  W. 
Drake. — St.  Matthew,  by  H.  Longueville  Mansel ;  St.  Mark, 
by  F.  C.  Cook  ;  St.  Luke,  by  VV.  Basil  Jones  and  F.  C. 
Cook,  with  a  General  Introduction  by  Wm.  Thompson. — St. 
John,  Introduction,  Commentary,  and  Critical  Notes,  by  B. 
F.  Westcott ;  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  Introduction  by  F. 


452  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

C.  Cook,  Commentary  and  Critical  Motes  by  William  Jacob- 
son. — Romans,  by  E.  H.  Gilford  ;  Corinthians,  by  Evans  and 
Joseph  Waite  ;  Galatians,  by  J.  S.  Howson  ;  Ephesians,  by 
F.  Meyrich  ;  Philippians,  by  J.  Gvvynn  ;  Colossians,  Thessa- 
lonians,  and  Philemon,  by  Win.  Alexander ;  Timothy  and 
Titus,  by  H.  Wace  and  John  Jackson. — Hebrews,  by 
W.  Kay  ;  St.  James,  by  Robert  Scott ;  St.  John,  by  Wni, 
Alexander ;  Si.  Peter  and  St.  Jiide,  by  J.  B.  Lightfoot  and 
J.  R.  Lumby  ;  Revelation,  by  Wm.  Lee. 

The  Pulpit  Commentary.  Edited  by  H.  D.  M.  Spence  and 
Joseph  S.  Exell.  London  :  C.  Kegan  Paul  &  Co.  1880- 
?>T,.  New  York  :  A.  D.  F.  Randolph  &  Co.  Genesis,  by  T. 
Whitelaw,  with  Homilies  by  J.  F.  Montgomery,  R.  A.  Red- 
ford,  F.  Hastings,  VV.  Roberts.  An  Introduction  to  the 
Study  of  the  Old  ^festament  by  F.  VV.  Farrar,  and  Litro- 
diictions  to  the  Pentateuch  by  H.  Cotterill  and  T.  White- 
law.  7th  edition. — Exodus,  by  G.  Rawlinson,  with  Homilies 
by  J.  Orr,  C.  A.  Goodliart,  D.  Young,  J.  Urquhart,  and  H. 
T.  Robjohns.  4th  edition.  2  vols. — Leviticus,  by  Freil. 
Meyrick,  with  Introductions  by  R.  Colhns,  A.  Cave,  and 
Homilies  by  R.  A.  Redford,  J.  A.  Macdonald,  W.  Clark- 
son,  S.  R.  Aldridge,  and  McCheyne  Edgar,  3d  edition. — 
Numbers,  by  R.  Winterbotham,  with  Homilies  by  E.  S. 
Prout,  W.  Binnie,  D.  Young,  J.  Waite,  and  an  Introduction 
by  Thomas  Whitelaw.  4th  edition. — Deuteronomy,  by  W. 
L.  Alexander,  with  Homilies  by  Dickerson  Davies,  C. 
Clemance,  J.  Orr,  and  R.  M.  Edgar.  2d  edition. — Joshua, 
by  J.  J.  Lias,  with  Homilies  by  R.  Glover,  E.  De  Pressense, 
S.  R.  Aldridge,  W.  F.  Adeney,  J.  Waite,  and  Introductions 
to  the  Historical  Books  by  A.  Plummer  and  J.  J.  Lias. 
4th  edition. — Judges  by  A.  C.  Hervey,  with  Homilies  by  A. 
F.  Muir  and  VV.  F.  Adeney  ;  Ruth,  by  J.  Morison,  with 
Homilies  by  VV.  M.  Statham  and  J.  R.  Thomson.  4th  edi- 
tion.— /.  Samuel,  by  R.  Payne  Smith,  with  Homilies  by 
Donald  Eraser,  C.  Chapman,  and  B.  Dale.  5th  edition. — 
/.  Kings,  by  Joseph  Hammond,  with  Homilies  by  E.  de 
Pressensd,  J.  Waite,  A.  Rowland,  J.  A.  Macdonald,  and  J 
Urquhart.  3d  edition. — Ezra,  Nehemiah,  Esther,  by  G 
Rawlinson,  with  Homilies  by  J.  R.  Thomson,  R.  A.  Red 
ford,  VV.  S.  Lewis,  J.  A.  Macdonald,  A.  Mackennal,  VV, 
Clarkson,  F.  Hastings,  W.  Dinwiddie,  D.  Rowlands,  G 
Wood,  P.  C.  Barker,  and  J.  S.  Exell.  5th  edition. — St 
Mark,  by  E.  Bickersteth,  with  Homilies  by  J.  R.  Thom 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  453 

son,  E.  Johnson,  J.  J.  Given,  A.  Rowland,  A.  F.  Miiir,  R. 
Green.     2d  edition.     2  vols. 

Wordsworth,   Christopher.     The  Holy  Bible,  in  the  Author- 
ized Version.     With  Notes  and  Introduction.     New  Edition. 
7  vols.     London:  Rivingtons.     1872. 

Critici  Sacri  sive  dodissimorum  virorum  in  S.  S.  Biblia  Anno~ 
tationes  et  Tractatus.  Edited  by  J.  Pearson,  A.  Scattergood, 
F.  Gouldnian,  and  R.  Pearson.  9  vol.,  folio.  London  :  C. 
Bee.     1660.     13  vol.,  folio.     Amsterdam.     1669. 

Poole,  Matth.  Synopsis  Criticorum.  4  vols,  in  5,  folio. 
London:  J.  Flescher  &  T.  Roycroft.     1669.    Utrecht,  1684. 

Reuss,  Edward.  La.  Bible  Traduction  nouvelle  avec  intro- 
ductions et  commentaires.  15  Part.  Paris:  Sadoz  et  Fisch- 
bacher.     1874-1881. 

(B)  The  Old  Testament. 

(a)  The  Old  Testament  as  a  whole. 

\Kurzgefasstes  exegetisches  Handbuch  zum  Alt.  Test.  Leipzig  : 
S.  Hirzel.  1838-83.  In  17  Biinden.  \Genesis,  4.  Aufl., 
von  A.  Dillmann,  1883  ;  \Exodus  cr"  Levit.,  2.  Aufl.,  von 
A.  Dillmann,  1880  ;  Num.,  Deut.,  Jos.,  von  A.  Knobel, 
1861  ;  Richter,  Ruth,  von  E.  Bertheau,  1845  ;  Samuel, 
von  O.  Thenius,  2.  Aufl.,  1864;  Kdnigc,  von  O.  Thenius, 

2.  Aufl.,  1873  ;  \Jcsaja,  4.  Aufl.,  von  L.  Diestel,  1872  ; 
Jerem.,  von  F.  Hitzig,  2.  Aufl.,  1866  ;  \Ezechicl,  2.  Aufl., 
von  R.  Smend,  1880  ;  \Klein.  Propheten,  4.  Aufl.,  von  H. 
Steiner,  1881  ;  Psalmen,  von  J.  Olshausen,  1853  ;  \Hiob.^ 

3.  Aufl.,  von  A.  Dillmann,  1869  '■>  Spriiche,  von  E.  Bertheau, 
u.  Koheleth,  von  F.  Hitzig,  1847  ;  Hohelied,  von  F.  Hitzig, 
u.  Klaglieder,  von  O.  Thenius,  1855  ;  Daniel,  von  F.  Hitzig, 
1850  ;  Esra,  Neh.,  Esther,  von  E.  Bertheau,  1862  ;  Chron- 
ik.,  von  E.  Bertheau,  1862. 

tKEiL,  C.  F.,  und  Franz  Delitzsch.  Biblische  Commentar 
iiber  das  A.  T.  14  Bande.  Leipzig  :  Dorffling  &  Franke. 
1861-83.  Translated  as  Biblical  Commentary  on  the  Old 
Testament.  25  vols.  Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark.  1864- 
78.  (The  Commentaries  on  Psalms,  3d  German  edition, 
1873-4  ;  Job,  2d  edition,  1876  ;  Proverbs,  1873  ;  Song  oj 
Songs  ^^  Koheleth,  1875  ;  Isaiah,  3d  edition,  1879,  all  by 
F.  l3elitzsch,  are  excellent.     The  Commentaries  by  Keil 


454  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

upon  the  Minor  Prophets,  2d  edition,  1873  '.  Daniel,  1876  ; 
and  Ezekiel,  2d  edition,  1883,  are  valuable;  the  others  are 
of  less  importance.) 

f  BoETTCHER,  F.  Neue  exegetish-kritsche  Aehrejilese  zum  Alien 
Testament.     3  Abtheil.     Leipzig  :  J.  A.  Earth.     1863-5. 

RosENMUELLER,  C.  F.  K.  SchoUa  in  Vettis  Testamentum. 
23  vol.     Leipzig:  J.  A.  Earth.     1820-34. 

WuENSCHE,  A.  Bibliotheca  Rabbinica  :  Eine  Sammlung  Alte 
Midraschim  {23  Lief,  published).  Leipzig:  Otto  Schiiltze. 
1880-83. 

(b)  Historical  Books. 

fCALViN,  John.  In  librum  Geneseos  commentarius  cur.  E. 
Hengstenberg.  2  Pts.  Eerlin :  G.  Bethge  1838.  Coin- 
vientaries  on  the  First  Book  of  Moses,  called  Genesis. 
Translated  from  the  original  Latin  and  compared  with 
the  French  edition.  By  John  King.  2  vols.  Edin- 
burgh:    T.  &  T.  Clark.     1847-50. 

f  Delitzsch,  Franz.  Commentar  fiber  d.  Genesis  mit  Beitragen 
von  Fleischer  u.  Wetzstein.  4te  'Aufl.  Leipzig  :  Dorffling 
und  Franke.     1872. 

fScHULTZ,  F.  VV.  Das  Deuteronomium  erkldrt.  Berlin  :  G. 
Schlawitz.     1859. 

f  Kalisch,  M.  M.  Historical  and  Critical  Commentary  o?i  the 
Old  Testament.  With  a  new  translation.  Vol.  I.,  Genesis, 
1858.  Vol.  IL,  Exodus,  1855.  Vols.  lU.  and  IV.,  Z^t-///- 
cus,  iS6'j-'j2.     London:  Longman,  Brown  &  Co.     1858. 

Masius,  Andreas.  Josuae  imperatoris  historia  illustrata  atque 
explicata.  Antwerpiae :  C.  Plantin.  1574.  Also  in 
Critici  sacri. 

AiNSWORTH,  Henry.  Annotations  on  the  Five  Books  of 
Moses,  the  Psalms,  and  the  Song  of  Solomon.  Folio. 
London.     1639. 

Kalisch,  M.  M.  Bible  Studies.  Part  I.,  The  Prophecies  of 
Balaam.     London :  Longmans.     1877. 

Murphy,  James.  A  Critical  and  Exegetical  Commentary  on 
the  Book  of  Genesis.  With  a  new  translation.  Edin- 
burgh :  T.  &  T.  Clark.  1863.  Andover  :  W.  F.  Draper. 
1866.  Commentary  on  Exodus.  Edinburgh  and  Andover. 
1866.     Leviticus*     Edinburgh  and  Andover.     1872. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  455 

TuCH,  Fried.  Commentar  iiber  die  Genesis.  2.  Aufl.  bes. 
von  Arnold  und  Merx.     Halle:  Waisenhaus.     1871. 

Bush,  George.  Notes,  Critical  and  Practical^  on  the  Book  of 
Numbers.  Designed  as  a  general  help  to  Biblical  reading 
and  instruction.  New  York :  Ivison,  Phinney  &  Co. 
1863. 

Bush,  George.  Notes,  Critical  and  Practical,  on  the  Book  of 
Joshua.  2d  edition.  New  York  :  Ivison,  Phinney  &  Co. 
1862.   . 

Wright,  C.  H.  H.  Book  of  Ruth  in  Hebrew-  With  gram- 
matical and  critical  commentary.  London  :  Williams 
&  Norgate.     1864. 

Davidson,  A.  B.  Lectures,  Expository  and  Practical.^  on  the 
Book  of  Esther.     Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark,     1859. 

Bachmann,  J.  Das  Buck  der  Richter.  Bd.  I.,  Cap.  I.-V. 
Berlin  :  Wiegandt  &  Grieben.     1868-69. 

(c)  Psalter. 

*Spurgeon,  C.  H.  The  Treasury  of  David.  Containing  an 
original  exposition  of  the  Book  of  Psalms  ;  a  collection  of  . 
illustrative  extracts  from  the  whole  range  of  literature  ;  a 
series  of  homiletical  hints  upon  almost  every  verse  ;  and 
a  list  of  writers  upon  each  psalm.  6  vols.  London  : 
Passmore  &  Alabaster.     1870-78. 

*  Vincent,  Marvin  R.  Gates  into  the  Psalm-country.  New 
York  :  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.     1878. 

fCALViN,  John.  In  librum  Psalmorum  cotnmentarius.  2 
Part.,  ed.  A.  Tholuck.  Berlin  :  G.  Eichler.  1836.  Com- 
mentaries on  the  Psalms  of  David.  3  vols.  London  : 
Thomas  Tegg.     1840. 

fEwALD,  Heinrich.  Die  Dichter  des  alten  Bundes  erkldrt.  2. 
Ausg. ;  3  Bde. ;  Gottingen  :  Vanderhock  &  Ruprecht ; 
1866-1867.  Commentary  on  the  Psalms,  translated  by  E. 
Johnson  ;  2  vols.  Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Job,  trans- 
lated by  J.  F.  Smith  ;    London  :  Williams   &    Norgate  ; 

•      1880-82. 

fPEROWNE,  J.  J.  S.  The  Book  of  Psalms  ;  a  new  translation, 
with  introduction  and  notes,  critical  and  explanatory.  5th 
edition.  London:  G.  Bell  &  Sons.  1883.  Andover : 
W.  F.  Draper.     1876. 


456  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

fHuPFELD,  H.  Die  Psalmen  iibersetzt  und  ausgelegt,  mit  Zu- 
satzen  und  Berichtigungen  von  E.  Riehm.  2te  Aufl.  4 
Bde.  Gotha:  F.A.Perthes.     1867-72. 

Alexander,  Joseph  Addison.  The  Psalms,  translated  and 
explained.  6th  ed-  3  vols.  New  York  :  Charles  Scrib- 
ner.     1866. 

Barnes,  Albert.  Notes,  Critical,  Explanatory  and  Practi- 
cal, on  the  Book  of  Psalms.  3  vols-  New  York  :  Harper 
&  Brothers.     1868-69. 

HoRNE,  George.  A  Co?nmentary  on  the  Book  of  Psalms 
with  an  introductory  essay  by  Edward  Irving.  Glas- 
gow :  Thomas  Tegg.  i860.  New  York  :  R.  Carter  & 
Brothers.     1849. 

Murphy,  J.  G.  A  Critical  and  Exegetical  Commentary  on  the 
Book  of  Psalms,  with  a  new  translation.  Edinburgh  :  T. 
&  T.  Clark.     1875.     Andover  :  W.  F.  Draper.     1875. 

Neale,  J.  M.,  and  R.  F.  Littledale.  A  Commentary  on 
the  Psalms,  from  the  primitive  and  mediaeval  writers;  and 
from  the  various  office  books  and  hymns  of  the  Roman, 
Mozarabic,  Ambrosian,  Gallican,  Greek,  Coptic,  Armen- 
ian, and  Syrian  rites.  4  vols.  London  :  J.  Masters  &  Co. 
1860-74. 

Hengstenberg,  E.  W.  Commentar  titer  d.  Psalmen.  2te 
Aufl.     4  Bde.     Ludwig  Oehmigke.     1849-52. 

Augustine,  Aurelius.  Expositions  on  the  Book  of  Psalms. 
Translated  by  J.  Tweed.  Vols.  XXIV.,  XXV.,  XXX., 
XXXII.,  XXXVII.,  XXXIX.  of  Library  of  the  Fathers 
of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church.  Oxford  :  J.  Parker  &  Co. 
1848. 

Graetz,  H.  Kritischer  Cojnmentar  zu  den  Psalmen  nebst 
Text  und  Uebersetzung.  2  Bde.  Breslau  :  S.  Schott- 
laender.     1882-3. 

(d)  The  Wisdom  Literature. 

*Cox,  Samuel.  A  Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Job,  with  a 
translation.     London  :  Kegan  Paul  &  Co..     1880. 

*Plumptre,  E.  H.  Ecclesiastes  ;  or,  the  Preacher,  with  Notes 
and  Introduction.     Cambridge:  University  Press.     1881. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  457 

*Hamilton,  James.  The  Royal  Preacher.  Lectures  on  Ec- 
clesiastes.  London  :  James  Nisbet.  1865.  New  York : 
Robert  Carter  &  Bros. 

fSxuART,  Moses.  A  Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Proverbs. 
New  York  :  M.  W.  Dodd.     1852. 

f  Ginsberg,  C.  D.  The  Song  of  Songs  ;  with  a  commentary, 
historical  and  critical.     London  :  Longman,  Brown  &  Co. 

1857. 

fWRiGHT,  C.  H.  H.  The  Book  of  Koheleth,  considered  in 
relation  to  modem  Criticism  and  to  the  doctrines  of 
modern  Pessimism,  with  a  critical  and  grammatical  Com- 
mentary.    London  :   Hodder  &  Stoughton.     1883. 

Davidson,  A.  B.  A  Commentary  on  Job,  grammatical  and 
exegetical,  with  a  translation.  Vol.  I.  London  :  Will- 
iams &  Norgate.     1862. 

Stuart,  Moses.  A  Cojnmentary  on  Ecclesiastes.  New-  York  : 
G.  P.  Putnam.     1871. 

WiTHiNGTON,  Leonard.  Solomons  Song,  Translated  and 
Explained.     Boston  :  J.  E.  Tilton  &  Co.     186 1. 

Boettcher,  F.  Die  dltesten  BUhnendichtung ;  der  Debora- 
Gesang  und  das  hohe  Lied,  dramatisch  dargestellt  und 
neu  iibersetzt.     Leipzig:  J.  A.  Barth.     1850. 

Taylor,  Francis.  Observations  upon  I.-IX.  Chapters  of 
Proverbs.     2  vols.     London :  George   Eversden.     1645- 

57- 

Ginsberg,  C.  D.  Coheleth  or  Ecclesiastes ;  translated,  with 
a  Commentary.     London:  Longman,  Brown  &  Ccr.    1857. 

Durham,  James.  Clavis  Cantici ;  or,  an  Exposition  of  th^ 
Song  of  Solomon.     Edinburgh.     1668.     Aberdeen.     1840. 

Gregory  the  Great.  Morals  on  the  Book  of  Job,  trans- 
lated, with  notes  and  indices,  in  vols.  XVIII.,  XXI., 
XXIII.,  XXXI.  of  The  Library  of  the  Fathers  of  the 
Holy  Catholic  Church.     Oxford  :  J.  H.  Parker.     1848. 

Ren  AN,  Ernest.     L' EccUstaste,  traduit  de  I'Hebreu  avec 
une  6tude  sur  I'age  et  le  caract^re  du  livre.     2.  Edition. 
Paris  :  Caiman  Ldvy.     1882. 
20 


458  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

(e)  The  Prophets. 

fEwALD,  Heinrich.  Die  Propheten  des  Alien  Bundes  er- 
klart ;  Neue  Bearbeitung  ;  3  Bde. ;  Gottingen  :  Vander- 
hoeck  &  Ruprecht ;  1867-68.  Commentary  on  the  Prophets 
of  the  Old  Testament ;  translated  by  J.  F.  Smith  ;  5  vols.  ; 
London  :  Williams  &  Norgate  ;   1875-81. 

f  Cheyne,  T.  K.  The  Prophecies  of  Isaiah.  A  new  transla- 
tion, with  commentary  and  appendixes.  2  vols.  Lon- 
don :  C.  Kegan  Paul  &  Co.     1880-1 881. 

Umbreit,   F.  W.  C.     Praktischer   Commentar  iiber  die  Pro- 
pheten des  Alt.  Bundes.     4  Bde.     Hamburg  :  F.  Perthes. 
1841-46. 

Gesenius,  Wilhelm.  Der  Prophet  J esaja  iibersetzt,  und  mit 
vollst.  phil.-krit.  u.  histor.  Commentar  begleitet.  3  Bde. 
Leipzig  :  F.  C.  W.  Vogel.     1821. 

The  53^  Chapter  of  Isaiah  according  to  the  Jewish  interpreters. 
Texts  edited  from  printed  books  and  MSS.  by  Ad.  Neu- 
bauer  ;  translation  by  S.  R.  Driver  and  Ad.  Neubauer. 
With  an  introduction  to  the  translations  by  E.  B.  Pusey. 
2  vols.     Oxford  :  J.  Parker  &  Co.     1876-77. 

Alexander,  J.  A.  The  Prophecies  of  Isaiah.  Translated 
and  explained.  Revised  edition.  2  vols.  New  York  : 
C.  Scribner  &  Co.  1869.  Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark. 
1874. 

LowTH,  Robert.  Isaiah.  A  new  translation,  with  a  pre- 
liminary dissertation  and  notes,  critical,  philological,  and 
explanatory.     2d  edition.     London:  J.  Dodsley.     1779. 

Henderson,  E.  The  Book  of  the  Prophet  Jeremiah,  and  that 
of  the  lamentatiofis.  Translated  from  the  original  He- 
brew. With  a  Commentary,  critical,  philological,  and 
exegetical.  London:  Hamilton.  1851.  Andover :  W. 
F.  Draper.     1868. 

ScHOLZ,  Anton.  Commentar  zum  Buche  des  Propheten  Jere- 
mias.     Wiirzburg  :  L.  Woerl.     1880. 

Graf,  K.  H.  Der  Prophet  Jeremia  erkldrt.  Leipzig  :  T. 
O.  Weigel.      1862. 

Haevernick,  H.  a.  C.  Conwientar  iiber  den  Propheten 
Ezechiel.     Erlangen  :  Carl  Heyder.     1843. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDT.  459 

Fairbairn,  Patrick.  Ezekiel  and  the  Book  of  His  Prophecy. 
2d  edition.     Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1855. 

Hengstenberg,  E.  W.  Die  Weissagungen  des  Propheten  Ezech- 
iel\  2Bde. ;  Berlin:  Gustav  Schlawitz  ;  1867-1868.  The 
Prophecies  of  Ezekiel  elucidated ;  translated  by  A.  C.  and 
J.  G.  Murphy;   Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark;  1869. 

Greenhill,  Wm.  Exposition  of  Ezekiel.  5  vols.  1645-67. 
Revised  and  corrected  by  James  Sherman.  Edinburgh: 
James  Nichol.     ^^^Z- 

(f)  Minor  Prophets  and  Daniel. 

fPusEY,  E.  B.  The  Minor  Prophets ;  with  a  Commentary 
explanatory  and  practical,  and  introductions  to  the  several 
books.     Oxford  :  J.  Parker  &  Co.     1877. 

f  Wright,  C.  H.  H.  Zechariah  and  His  Prophecies  considered 
in  relation  to  Modern  Criticism  ;  with  a  critical  and  gram- 
matical Commentary  and  new  Translation.  London  : 
Hodder  &  Stougliton.     T879. 

fWuENSCHE,  A.  Der  Prophet  Hosea  iibersetzt  und  erklart 
mit  Benutzung  der  Targumim  u.  der  jiid.  Ausleger.  Leip- 
zig: T.  O.  Weigel.     1868. 

fWuENSCHE,  A.  Die  Weissagungen  des  Propheten  Joel  flber- 
setzt  und  erklart.     Leipzig:  R.  Reisland.     1872. 

f  Kranichfeld,  R.  Das  Buck  Daniel  erklart.  Berlin  : 
Gustav  Schlawitz.     1868. 

Henderson,  E.  The  Books  of  the  Twelve  Minor  Prophets. 
London:  Hamilton  &  Co.  1845,  Andover:  W.  F. 
Draper,     i860. 

BuRROUGHES,  Jeremiah.  An  Exposition  of  the  Prophecies  of 
Hosea.  4  vols.  London:  1643-51.  Edinburgh:  J. 
Nichol.     1863. 

PococK,  Edward.  Commentary  on  Hosea ;  Oxford,  At  the 
Theatre.  1685.  On  Joel,  Micah,  and  Malachi  j  Oxioxd, 
1691. 

Rainolds,  John.  The  Prophecies  of  Obadiah  opened  and  ap- 
plyed.     1613.     Edinburgh:  J.  Nichol.     1864. 


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King,  John.  Lectures  upon  Jonah.  Oxford.  1600.  Edin- 
burgh :  J.  Nichol.     1864. 

Kalisch,  M.  M.  Bible  Studies.  Part  II.,  The  Book  of  Jonah. 
London  :  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.     1878. 

More,  Henry.  A  Plaine  and  continued  Exposition  of  the 
several  Prophecies  of  Daniel.     London.     1681. 

Stuart,  Moses.  A  Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Daniel. 
Boston  :  Crocker  &  Brewster.     1850. 

Haevernick,  H.  a.  C.  Commentar  iiber  das  Buch  Daniel. 
Hamburg:  Fried.  Perthes.     1839. 

Commentaries  on  the  New  Testament. 

(a)  The  New  Testament  as  a  whole. 

*-^  Popular  Commentary  on  the  New  Testament.  Prepared  by 
a  number  of  American  and  British  scholars  of  the  leading 
Evangelical  Denominations,  under  the  General  Editorship 
of  Philip  Schaff.  4  volumes.  Each  volume  profusely  illus- 
trusted  with  cuts  of  Bible  Lands  and  Bible  Scenes,  made  from 
recent  ^'hotographs,  and  prepared  under  the  supervision  of 
Wm.  M.  Thomson,  and  with  maps  prepared  under  the  super- 
vision of  Arnold  Guyot. — I.  Matthew,  Mark  and  Luke.  With 
an  Introduction.  By  Philip  Schaff  and  Matthew  B.  Riddle. — 
II.  "^John,  by  VVm.  Milligan  and  Wm.  F.  Moulton  ;  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  by  J.  S.  Howson  and  Donald  Spence. — III.  *  Ro- 
mans, by  Philip  Schaff  and  M.  B.  Riddle  ;  Corinthians,  by  Da- 
vid Brown  ;  *Galatians,  by  Philip  Schaff;  Ephesians,  by  Matt. 
B.  Riddle  ;  Philippians,  by  J.  Rawson  Lumby  ;  Colossians, 
by  M.  B.  Riddle ;  Thessalonians,  by  Marcus  Dods ;  Timothy, 
by  Edward  Hayes  Plumptre  ;  Titus,  by  J.  Oswald  Dykes ; 
Philemon,  by  J.  Rawson  Lumby. — IV.  Jlebrews,  by  Joseph 
Angus ;  James,  by  Paton  J.  Gloa^ ;  Peter,  by  G.  D.  F.  Sal- 
mond  ;  John,  by  Wm.  B.  Pope  and  Wm.  F.  Moulton ; 
Jude,  by  Joseph  Angus ;  Revelation.,  by  Wm.  Milligan  and 
Wm.  F.  Moulton.     (In  preparation.) 

♦Butler,  J.  G.  The  Bible-Reader  s  Commentary.  The  New 
Testament  in  Two  Volumes.  The  Text  arranged  in  sec- 
tions ;  with  brief  readings  and  complete  annotations,  selected 
from  the  "  choice  and  best  observations  "  of  more  than  300 
eminent  Christian  Thinkers  of  the  Past  and  Present.  New 
York  :  D.  Appleton  &  Co.     1878-9. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  4C1 

fBENCEL,  J.  A.  Gnomon  N.  Zl,  5  editio  von  J.  Steudel ;  Stutt- 
gartiae  :  J.  F.  Steinkopf,  i860.  Gnomon  of  the  New  Tcsta- 
7nent,  edited  by  Charlton  T.  Lewis  and  Marvin  R.  Vincent ; 

2  vols.     Philadelphia:  Perkenpine  &  Higgins.      i860. 

fiVlEYER,  H.  A.  VV.  Krit.  ex.  Comm.  iiber  d.  N.  T.  Hotting- 
en  :  Vanderhoek  &  Ruprecht,  1832-83.  16  Abtheiliingen. 
Matth.,  7  Aufl.  von  B.  Weiss,  1876  ;  Markus,  Lukas,  Johan- 
nes, 6  Aufl.  von  B.  Weiss,  1878-80;  Apostelgeschichte  von 
H.  H.  Wendt,  5  Aufl.,  1881  ;  Romerbrief,  6  Aufl.  von  B. 
Weiss,  18S1  ;  /.  Corinth.  6  Aufl.  von  C.  F.  G.  Heinrici, 
1881  ;  //.  Corinth.,  6  Aufl.  von  Heinrici,  1883.;  Galater 
von  F.  Sieffert,  6  Aufl.,  1881  ;  Epheserbrief  \'0x\  W.  Schmidt, 

5  Aufl.,  1878;  Phil.,  Col.,  Philem.,  4  Aufl.  von  H.  A.  W. 
Meyer,  1874;  Thess.,  4  Aufl.  von  G.  Liinemann,  1878; 
Tim.,  Titus,  Petrus,  Judd,  Johannes,  4  Aufl.  von  J.  E. 
Huther,  1876-80  ;  Jacobus,  4  Aufl.  von  W.  Beyschlag,  1882  ; 
Hcbrderbrief,  4  Aufl.  von  Liinemann,  1878  ;  Offenb.  Johan., 

3  Aufl.  von  F.  Diisterdiek,  1877.  Critical  and  Exegetical 
Commentary  on  the  New  Testament.  From  the  German, 
with  the  sanction  of  the  author,     10  vols.     Edinburgh  :  T. 

6  T.  Clark.     1876-79. 

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jCalvin,  John.  In  Novum  Testamentum  Commentarii,  curavit 
A.  Tholuck.  7  vol.  Editio  altera.  Berolini :  G.  Thome. 
1838. 

Alford,  Henry.  New  Testament  for  English  Readers  ;  con- 
taining the  authorized  version,  with  a  revised  English  Te.xt ; 
marginal  references,  and  a  critical  and  e.xplanatory  Com- 
mentary. New  edition.  4  parts,  in  2  vols.  l.,ondon  :  Riv- 
ingtons.     1868. 

Chrysostom,  John.  Homilies  on  the  New  Testament.  Vols, 
IV.,  v.,  VI.,  VII.,  XL,  XII.,  XIV,,  XV„  XXVII.,  XXVIIL, 
XXXIIL,  XXXIV.,  XXXV.,  XXXVI,  of  the  Library  of  the 
Fathers  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church.  Oxford :  J.  H. 
Parker.     1848. 

De  Wette,  W,  M.  L.  Kurtzgef assies  exeget.  Handb.  z.  N.  T. 
3  Bde.  II  Abtheil..  Nach  seinem  Tode,  bearbeitet  von 
Messner,  Bruckner,  Overbeck  &  Moller.  Leipzig  :  Weid- 
mann.      1836  seq. 

HOFMANN,  von  J.  Ch.  Die  Heilige  Schriften  Neuen  Testa- 
ments zusammenhdngend  untersucht.  9  Teilen.  Nord- 
lingen  :  C.  H.  Beck.     1862-83. 


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Ellicott,  C.  J.  A  New  Testament  Commentary,  for  English 
Readers,  by  various  writers.  3  vols.  London :  Cassell, 
Petter,  Galpin  &  Co.  1878  seg.  New  York  :  E.  P.  Button 
&  Co. 

Spiess,  Ed.  Logos  Spermatikos.  Parallelstellen  zuni  Neuen 
Testament  aus  den  Schriften  der  alten  Griechen.  Leipzig  : 
Wilhelm  Engelmann.     1871. 

ScHOETTGEN,  Ch.  Horae  hebraicae  et  talmudicae  in  universum 
Novum  Testamentum.     Dresdae  :  C.  Hekel.     1 733. 

(b)  The  Gospels  and  Book  of  Acts. 

*Bruce,  a.  B.  The  Parabolic  Teaching  of  Christ.  A  sys- 
tematic and  critical  study  of  the  Parables  of  our  Lord. 
London:  Hodder  &  Stoughton.  1882.  New  York  :  A.  C. 
Armstrong  &  Co.      1883. 

fMoRisoN,  James.  Mattheivs  Memoirs  of  Jesus  Christ.  Lon- 
don :  Hamilton,  Adams  &  Co.     1870. 

f  MORISON,  James,  A  Practical  Commentary  on  the  Gospel  ac- 
cording to  Mark.  2d  edition.  London  :  Hamilton,  Adams 
&  Co.     1876.     Boston  :  N.  J.  Bartlett.     1882. 

fGoDET,  F.  Commentaire  sur  V^vangile  de  St.  Luc.  2  Edition. 
2  vol.  Neuchatel :  J.  Sandoz.  A  Commentary  on  the 
Gospel  of  St.  Luke,  translated  by  E.  VV.  Shalders  and  IVf. 
D.  Cusin.     2  vols.     Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1875. 

f  GoDET,  F.  Com.  sur  t evangile  de  St.  Jean.  3  vol.  2  edition. 
Paris:  Lib.  Francois  €l  Itrang^re,  1876-77.  Commentary 
on  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  with  a  critical  introduction,  trans- 
lated from  the  2d  French  edition  by  M.  D.  Cusin  and  S. 
Taylor;  3  vols.;  Edinburgh:  T.  &  T.  Clark,  iSy -77. 

f Trench,  R.  C.  Notes  on  the  Parables,  nth  edition,  Lon- 
don, Macmillan  &  Co.,  1870.  9th  edition.  New  York,  D. 
Appleton  &  Co.,  1858. 

Tholuck,  a.  F.  Die  Bergpredigt,  5.  Aufl.,  1872  ;  Gotha:  F. 
A.  Perthes,  1872.  Commentary  on  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  translated  from  the  4th  revised  and  enlarged  Ger- 
man edition  by  R.  I,.  Brown  ;  Edinburgh :  T.  &  T.  Clark, 
i860;  Philadelphia:  Smith,  English  &  Co. 

Alexander,  J.  Addison.     The  Gospel  according  to  Mark  Ex- 
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LuTHARDT,  C.  E.  Das  Johanneische  Evangelium  ;  2  Thle.;  2 
Aufl.  ;  Niirnberg  :  Geiger,  1875-6.  St.  John  s  Gospel,  de- 
scribed and  explained  according  to  its  peculiar  character ; 
3  vols. ;   Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark.      1876-8. 

Aquinas,  Thomas.  Catena  Aurea.  Commentary  on  the  four 
Gospels,  collected  out  of  works  of  the  Fathers.  4  vols. 
Oxford:  J.  H.  Parker.     1841-44. 

Greswell,  E.  B.  D.  Exposition  of  the  Parables  and  other 
parts  of  the  Gospels.  5  vols.  Oxford  :  J.  G.  &  F.  Rivington. 
1834. 

EuTHYMius,  ZiGABENUS.  Commentar  in  IV.  evangelia.  Gr. 
et  Eat.  ed.  C.  F.  Matthaei.  3  torn.  Lips.  :  Weidniann. 
1792. 

AcHELis,  E.  Die  Bergpredi^j;t  nach  Matthaeus  und  Lucas. 
Bielefeld:  Velhagen  &  Klasing.  •1875. 

GoEBEL,  S.  Die  Parahlen  Jesu  methodisch  ausgelegt.  Gotha  : 
F.  A.  Perthes.     1879-80. 

LuECKE,  G.  C.  F.  Commentar  iiber  die  Schriftcn  des  Evan- 
gelisten  Johannes.  3.  Aufl.  4  Bde.  Bonn :  E.  Weber. 
1850-1856. 

WuENSCHE,  August.  JVeue  Beit  rage  zur  Erlaiiterung  der 
Evangelien  aus  Talmud  &>  Midrash.  Gottingen  :  Van- 
derhoeck  &  Ruprecht.     1878. 

fGLOAG,  P.  J.  A  Cntical  and  Exegetical  Commentary  on  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles.  2  vols.  Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark. 
1870. 

Hackett,  H.  B.  a  Commentary  on  the  Original  Text  of  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles.  New  edition.  Andover :  W.  F. 
Draper.     1877. 

Alexander,  J.  A.  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  Expounded.  3d 
edition.     2  vols.     New  York  ;  C.  Scribner  &  Co.     1867. 

(c)  Pauline  Epistles. 

f  GoDET,  F.  Commentaire  sur  F^pttre  aux  Rotnains.  2  Tom. 
Neuchatel :  J.  Sandoz.  Cofnmentary  on  St.  Paul's  Epistle 
to  the  Romans.  Translated  from  the  French  by  A.  Cusin. 
2  vols,     Edinburgh:  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1880-81. 


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f  Hodge,  Chas.  Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans. 
New  edition.  Revised  and  ia  a  great  measure  rewritten. 
Philadelphia:  R.  &  H.  Claxton.     J856. 

Shedd,  W.  G.  T.  a  Critical  .and  Doctrinal  Commentary  on  the 
Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Romans.  New  York  :  Charles 
Scribner's  Sons.     1879. 

Stuart,  Moses.  A  Critical  and  Exegetical  Commentary  on 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  3d  edition.  Edited  and  revised 
by  R.  D.  C.  Robbins.  New  edition.  Andover :  VV.  F. 
Draper.     1876. 

Beet,  Joseph  A.  A  Commentary  on  St.  PauVs  Epistle  to  the 
Romans.  2d  edition.  London :  Hodder  &  Stoughton. 
1881. 

Philippi,  F.  a.  Commentar  U.  d.  brief  Pattli  an  die  Romer  j 
3  Auti. ;  Frankfurt  a.  M.:  Heyder  &  Zimmer,  1866.  Com- 
mentary on  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans  j  translated 
from  the  3d  edition  by  J.  S.  Banks ;  2  vols.;  Edinburgh  :  T. 
&  T.  Clark,  1878-9. 

f  Stanley,  A.  P.  The  Epistles  of  St.  Paid  to  the  Corinthians, 
with  critical  notes  and  dissertations.  5th  edition.  London  : 
J.  Murray.      1882. 

f  Beet,  Joseph  A.  A  Cotnmentary  on  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians.     London  :  Hodder  &  Stoughton.     1882. 

Hodge,  Charles.  An  Exposition  of  the  First  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians.     New  York:  R.  Carter  &  Brothers.     1857. 

Hodge,  Charles.  An  Exposition  of  the  Second  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians.     New  York:  R.  Carter  &  Brothers,     i860. 

Heinrici,  C.  F.  G.  Das  erste  Sendschreiben  des  Apostel  Paulus 
an  die  Korinthier.     Berlin  :  W.  Hertz.      1 880. 

fLiGHTFOOT,  J.  B.  St.  PauVs  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  5  th 
edition.  London:  Macmillan  &  Co.  1880.  Andover:  VV. 
F.  Draper.     1870. 

f  Luther,  Martin.  A  Commentary  on  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians.     Philadelphia:  Smith,  English  &  Co.     i860. 

Ellicott,  C.  J.  Commentary,  Critical  and  Grammatical,  on 
St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  London  :  Longmans 
&  Co.     Andover:  W.  F.  Draper.     1867. 


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Eadie,  John.  Commentary  on  the  Greek  Text  of  the  Epistle  of 
Paul  to  the  Galatiam.     Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1869. 

JEadie,  John.  Commentary  on  the  Greek  Text  of  the  Epistle 
of  Paul  to  the  Ephesians.  2d  edition.  London  :  1861. 
New  York:    R.  Carter  &  Brothers.      1861. 

fELi  icoiT,  C.  J.  A  Critical  and  Grammatical  Commentary  on 
St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  With  a  revised  trans- 
lation. 3d  edition.  London:  Longmans  &  Co.  1864. 
Andover:  W.  F.  Draper.     1862. 

Hodge,  Charles.  A  Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians.    New  York  :  R.  Carter  &  Brothers.     1856. 

f  LiGHTFOOT,  J.  B.  St.  Pauts  Epistle  to  the  Philippians.  A 
revised  text,  with  Introduction,  Notes,  and  Dissertations.  3d 
edition.     London  :  Macmillan  &  Co.     1873. 

fEixicoTT,  C.  J.  A  Comjnentary,  Critical  and  Grammatical^ 
on  St.  Pauts  Epistles  to  the  Philippians,  Colossians,  and  to 
Philemon.  3d  edition.  London:  Longmans  &  Co.  An- 
dover  :  W.  F.  Draper.     1865. 

tLiGHTFOOT,  J.  B.  St.  Pauts  Epistles  to  the  Colossians  and  to 
Philemon.  A  revised  text,  with  Introduction,  Notes,  and 
Dissertations.      2d    edition.      London:    Macmillan   &    Co. 

1875. 
Bayne,  Paul.     An  Entire  Commentary  upon  the  whole  of  the 
Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Ephesians.     London.     R.  Milbourne. 
1643.     Edinburgh  :  James  Nichol.     1866. 

Airay,  Henry.  Lectures  upon  the  whole  Epistle  of  St.  Paul 
to  the  Philippiafis.  London,  1 6 18.  Edinburgh  :  J.  Nichol. 
1864. 

Byfield,  N.  An  Exposition  upon  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians. 
Folio.     London:  N.  Butler.     1617. 

f  Ellicott,  C.  J.  A  Critical  and  Grammatical  Commentary  on 
St.  Paul's  Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians,  with  a  revised 
translation.  London  :  Longmans  &  Co.  Andover:  W.  t. 
Draper.     1865. 

Eadie,    John.      A    Commentary  .on   the    Greek    Text  of  the 
Epistles   of  Paul  to   the    Thessalonians.      Edited   by   W. 
Young.     With  a  Preface  by  John  Cairns.     London  :  Mac- 
millan &  Co.     1877. 
20* 


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LiLLiE,  John.  Lectures  on  the  Epistles  of  Paid  to  the  Thessa- 
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f  Ellicott,  C.  J.  A  critical  and  grammatical  Commentary  on  the 
Pastoral  Epistles,  with  a  revised  translation.  London  : 
Longmans,  Green  &  Co.     Andover:  VV.  F.  Draper.     1865. 

Fairbairn,  Patrick.  The  Pastoral  Epistles.  Greek  text, 
and  translation,  with  introductions,  expository  notes,  and 
dissertations.     Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1874. 

Barlow,  John.  Exposition  of  II.  Timothy,  Chaps,  i.-ii. 
London  :  George  Latham.     1632. 

Hall,  Thomas.  Commentary  on  II.  Timothy,  C  Hi.  and  iv. 
Folio.     London  :  J.  Starkey.     1658. 

Taylor,  Thomas.  Commentarie  upon  Titus.  Cambridge. 
1 61 9.     Folio,  1668. 

(d)  General  Epistles. 

■|"Delitzsch,  Franz.  Cotnmentar  zum  Brief e  an  die  Hebrder. 
Leipzig:  Dorffling  &  Franke.  1857.  Comttientary  on  the 
epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  Trans,  by  T.  L.  Kingsbury.  2  vols. 
Edinburgh:  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1868-70. 

Bleek,  F.  Der  Brief  an  die  Hebrder  erlautert  durch  Einlei- 
tung,  Uebersetzung  und  fortlaufenden  Commentar.  2  Ab- 
theil.  Berlin  :  F.  Diimmler.  1828-40.  Der  Hebrderbrief 
erklart,  herausg.  von  K.  A.  Windrath.  Elberfeld :  Frider- 
icks.     1868. 

Stuart,  Moses.  A  Comtnentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 
New  edition.     Andover:  W.  P\  Draper.     1876.  , 

Gouge,  William.  Commentary  on  the  whole  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews. 2  vols.,  folio,  London,  Joseph  Kirton,  1655,  3 
Vols.  Edinburgh  :  James  Nichol.     1866-67. 

Owen,  John.  Exposition  of  Hebrews.  4  vols.,  folio,  Lon- 
don, 1668-74.  Edited  by  W.  A.  Goold.  7  vols.  Edin- 
burgh :  T.  &  T.  Clark. 

M  ANTON,  Thomas.  A  Practical  Exposition  on  the  Epistle  of 
James.  London.  1651.  Revised  and  corrected  by  James 
Sherman.     London  :  S.  Holdsworth.     1842. 


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Bassetf,  F.  T.  The  Catholic  Epistle  of  St.  James.  Lon- 
don :  Sanniel  Bagster  &  Sons.     1876. 

tLEiGHTON,  Robert.  Commentary  upon  \st  Peter.  2  vols., 
1613-1684.  2  vols.  Philadelphia:  Presbyterian  Board  of 
Publication.     1864. 

LiLLiE,  John.  Lectures  on  the  First  and  Second  Epistles  of 
Peter.  New  York :  Charles  Scribner  &  Co.  l^ondon : 
Hodder  &  Stoughton,     1869. 

Adams,  Thomas.  An  Exposition  upon  the  Second  Epistle  of 
Peter.  P'olio,  London,  1633;  revised  and  corrected  by 
James  Sherman.     Edinburgh:  James  Nichol.     1862. 

tCANDLiSH,  Robert.  First  epistle  of  John  expounded,  a  vols. 
Edinburgh  :  A.  &  C.  Black.      1870. 

fEBRARD,  J.  H.  A.  Die  Brief e  Johannis.  Konigsberg  :  A. 
W.  Unzer.  1859.  Commentary  on  the  epistles  of  St.  John. 
Translated  by  W.  B.   Pope,     Edinburgh  :  T.   &  T.   Clark. 

t86o. 

Cotton,  John.  Comtnentary  upon  the  first  epistle  of  John. 
Folio,  2d  edition.     London  :  Thomas  Parkhurst,     1658, 

Jenjcvn,  \^''ili,iam.  An  exposition  upon  the  epistle  of  Jude.  2 
vols.,  Samuel  Gellibrand,  1652;  revised  and  corrected  by 
James   Sherman.     I^ondon :  Samuel  Holdsworth.     1839. 

(e)  The  Book  of  Revelation. 

'Glasgow,  James.  The  Apocalypse  translated  and  expounded. 
Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1862. 

tSTUART,  Moses.  A  Commentary  on  the  Apocalypse.  2  vols. 
Andover  :  Allen,  Morrill  &  Wardwell.     1845. 

tELLiOTT,  C.  B.  Horae  Apocalypticae.  A  Commentary  on  the 
Apocalypse,  critical  and  historical.  5th  edition.  4  vols. 
London  :  Seeley,  Jackson  &  Halliday.     1862. 

ViTRiNGA,  C.  Anakrisis  Apocalypsios  Johannis  aposfoli. 
Amsterdam:  H.  Strick.  1719.  Leucopetiae  :  J.  F.  Wehr- 
mann.     1721. 

Brightman,  Thomas.  The  Revelation  of  the  Revelation. 
Amsterdam,  16 15.     Leyden,  1644. 


468  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Durham,  James.  A  Commentarie  upon  the  book  of  the  Reve- 
lation.    Glasgow.     1658.     New  edition,  Glasgow,  1788. 

EiCHHORN,  J.  G.  Commentarius  in  apocalypsin  Joa?inis.  2  vol. 
Gottingen  :  J.  C.  Dieterich.     1791. 

Kliefoth,  Th.  Die  Offenbarung  des  Johanties.  3  Abtheil. 
Leipzig  :  Dorffling  &  Franke.     1874. 

VII.  Biblical  History. 

(i)  Biblical  Geography  and  Natural  History. 

*Tristram,  H.  B.  The  Topography  of  the  Holy  Land.  A 
succinct  account  of  all  the  places,  rivers,  and  mountains  of 
the  land  of  Israel,  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  so  far  as  they  have 
been  identified,  together  with  their  modern  names  and  his- 
torical references.  London  :  Society  for  Promoting  Chris- 
tian Knowledge.  1876.  New  York:  Pott,  Young  &  Co. 
1878. 

♦Tristram,  H.  B,  The  Natural  History  of  the  Bible.  Being 
a  review  of  the  physical  geography,  geology,  and  meteorolo- 
gy of  the  Holy  Land ;  with  a  description  of  every  animal 
and  plant  mentioned  in  Holy  Scripture.  London  :  Society 
for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge.  1867.  New  York : 
Pott,  Young  &  Co. 

♦Thomson,  VV.  M.  The  Land  and  the  Book  ;  or,  Biblical  Il- 
lustrations drawn  from  the  manners  and  customs,  the  scenes 
and  scenery  of  the  Holy  Land.  2  vols.  New  York  :  Har- 
per &  Brothers.  1859.  New  edition,  illustrated.  3  vols. 
1880-83. 

♦Stanley,  Arthur  P.  Sinai  and  Palestine  in  connection  with 
their  history.  New  edition.  London  :  John  Murray.  New 
York  :  A.  C.  Armstrong  &  Son.     1883. 

tBAEDEKER,  K.  Paldstina  und  Syrien.  Handbuch  fiir  Rei- 
sende.  2te  Aufl.  Leipzig :  Karl  Baedeker,  1880.  Pal- 
estine and  Syria.     Boston  :  J.  R.  Osgood  &  Co. 

tRoHiNSON,  Edward.  Biblical  Researches  in  Palestine  and  in 
the  adjacent  regions.  A  journal  of  travels  in  the  year  1838. 
2  vols.     2d  edition.     Boston  :  Crocker  &  Brewster,     i860. 

+R0BINSON,  Edward.  Later  Biblical  Researches  in  Palestine 
and  in  the  adjacent  regions.  A  journal  of  travels  in  the  year 
1852.     2d  edition.     Boston  :  Crocker  &  Brewster.     1857. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  4^9 

tRoBiNSON,  Edward.  Physical  Geography  of  the  Holy  Land. 
Boston:  Crocker  &  Brewster.     1865.. 

fiVlERRiLL,  Selah,  Edst  of  the  Jordan.  A  record  of  travel 
and  observation  in  the  countries  of  Moab,  Gilead,  and  Bashan 
during  the  years  1875-77.  New  York :  Chas.  Scribner's 
Sons.      i88f.     New  edition,  1883, 

tToBLER,  Titus.  Descriptiones  Terrae  Sanctae  ex  saeculo 
VIII.,  IX.,  XII.,  et  XV,    Leipzig :  J.  C.  Heinrichs.    1874. 

fToBLER,  Titus.  Bibliographia  Geographica  Palestinae. 
I^eipzig :  Hirzel.     1867. 

f  Delitzsch,  Fried.  Wo  lag  das  Paradies  ?  Eine  Biblisch- 
Assyriologische  Stiidie  mit  zahlreichen  assyriologischen 
Beitriigen  ziir  biblischen  Lander  und  Volkerkunde,  Leip- 
zig:  J.  C.  Heinrichs.     1881. 

CoNDER,  C.  R.  Tent  Work  in  Palestine.  A  record  of  dis- 
covery and  adventure.  Published  for  the  Committee  of  the 
Palestine  Exploration  Society.  2  vols.  I-ond.on  :  R.  Bent- 
ley  &  Son.     New  York  :  D.  Appleton  &  Co.     1878. 

ti¥iz/  of  Western  Palestine.  In  26  sheets.  By  C.  R.  Conder 
and  H.  H.  Kitschener.     London.     18S0. 

tMENKE,  Theo.  Bibelatlas  in  acht  Bldttern.  Gotha  :  J. 
Perthes.     1868. 

Lynch,  W.  F.  Narrative  of  the  United  States  Expedition  to 
the  river  Jordan  and  the  Dead  Sea.  Philadelphia  :  Lee  & 
Blanchard.     1 849. 

Ebers,  G.  Diirch  Gosen  zum  Sinai.  Atis  dem  Wanderbuch 
und  der  Bibliothek.  2te  Auf.  Leipzig :  W.  Engelmann. 
1881. 

Wetzstein,  J.  G.  Reisebericht  ilber  Hauran  und  die  Tracho- 
nen,  nebst  einem  Anhange  iiber  die  Sabaischen  Denkraaler 
in  Ostsyrien.     Berlin;  D.  Reimer.     i860. 

Palmer,  E.  H.  The  Desert  of  the  Exodus.  2  vols.  Cam- 
bridge :  Deighton,  Bell  &  Co.  1871.  New  York  :  Harper 
&  Brothers.     1872, 

Wilson,  John.  The  Lands  of  the  Bible  Visited  and  Described. 
2  vols.     Edinburgh  :  Longmans.     1847. 


4Y0  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Burton,  Richard  F.,  and  Charles  Drake.  Unexplored 
Syria.     2  vols.     London  :  Tinsley  Bros.     1872. 

Tobler,  T.  Topographie  von  Jerusalem  undseinen  Umgebungen. 
2  Bde.     Berlin  ;  G.  Reinier.     1853-4. 

Tobler,  T.  Nazareth  in  Faldstina.  Berlin:  G.  Reimer. 
1868. 

Tobler,  T.  Bethlehem  in  Faldstina.  St.  Gallen.  Huber  & 
Comp.     1849. 

Warren,  Charles.  Underground  Jerusalem.  An  account  of 
some  of  the  principal  difficulties  encountered  in  its  explora- 
tion and  the  results  obtained.  London  :  Richard  Bentley 
&  Son.     1876, 

Wilson,  Chas  VV.,  and  Warren,  Chas.  The  Recovery  of  Jer- 
usalem. A  Narrative  of  Exploration  and  Discovery  in  the 
city  and  Holy  Land.  Edited  by  W.  Morrison.  New  York  : 
D.  Appleton  &  Co.     1871. 

Tristram,  H.  B.  The  Land  of  Israel.  A  journal  of  travels 
in  Palestine,  undertaken  with  special  reference  to  its  physi- 
cal character.  2d  ed.  London :  Soc.  Prom.  Christian 
Knowledge.     1866. 

Tristram,  H.  B.  The  Land  of  Moab.  Travels  and  Discov- 
eries on  the  East  side  of  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Jordan.  Lon- 
don :  J.  Murray.     New  York  :  Harper  &  Brothers.     1873. 

RiTTER,  Carl.  The  complete  Geography  of  Palestine  and  the 
Sinaitic  Peninsula.  Translated  by  W.  L.  Gage.  4  vols. 
Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark.  1866.  New  York  :  D.  Apple- 
ton  &  Co.     1870. 

Williams,  George.  The  Holy  City.  Historical,  topographi- 
cal, and  antiquarian  notices  of  Jerusalem.  2d  ed.  2  vols. 
London  :  Parker  &  Son.     1849. 

(2)  Old  Testament  History. 

(a)  Archaeolog^y  of  the  Old  Testament 

*CoNDER,  F.  R.  A  Handbook  to  the  Bible.  Being  a  guide  to 
the  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  derived  from  ancient  mon- 
uments and  modern  exploration.  London  :  Longmans,  Green 
&  Co.     New  York  :  A.  D.  F.  Randolph  &  Co. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  47I 

*Lane,  E.  W.  An  account  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the 
modern  Egyptians.  2  vols.  5  th  edition.  London :  J. 
Murray.      187 1. 

*Lane,  E.  W.  The  Thousand  and  One  Nights,  commonly 
called,  in  England,  The  Arabian  Nights'  Entertainments. 
A  new  translation  from  the  Arabic,  with  copious  notes.  A 
new  edition,  edited  by  E.  S.  Poole.  3  vols.  London : 
Routledge,  Warne  &  Routledge.     1865. 

tEwALD,  Heinrich.  Die  Alterthiimer  des  Volkes  Israel.  3 
Ausg.  Gottingen :  Dieterich,  1866.  The  Antiquities  of 
Israel.  Translated  from  the  German  by  H.  S.  Solly.  Lon- 
don :  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.     1876. 

fKEir.,  C.  F.  Handbuch  der  Biblischen  Archdologie.  2te. 
Aufl.    .  Frankfurt-a-M.  :   Heyder  &  Zimmer.      1875. 

Van  Lennep,  H.  J.  Bible  Lands :  their  modern  customs  and 
manners  illustrative  of  Scripture.  New  York  :  Harper  & 
Brothers.      1875. 

Saalschutz,  J.  \j.  Archdologie  der  Hebrder,  fur  Freunde  des 
Alterthums  und  zum  Gebrauche  bei  akademischen  Vorle- 
sungen.  2  Theile.  Konigsberg :  Gebriider  Borntriiger. 
1855-6. 

Madden,  F.  W.  Coins  of  the  Jews.  2d  edition.  London  : 
B.  Quaritch.     Boston  :  J.  R.  Osgood  &  Co.     1881. 

UeVVette,  W.  M.  L.  Lehrbuch  der  hebrdisch-judischen  Arch- 
dologie nebst  einem  Grundrisse  der  hebraisch-jiidisch-Ge- 
schichte.  4  Auf.  bearbeitet  von  F.  J.  Raebiger.  Leipzig  : 
F.  C  W.  Vogel.     1864. 

Waehner,  a.  G.  Antiquitates  Ebraeorum  de  Israeliticae  Gen- 
tis.     2  volL     Gottingae  :  A.  Vandenhoeck.      1 742-3. 

(b)  The  History  of  the  Jews. 

*Smith,  William.  The  Old  Testament  History.  London : 
J.Murray.     1865.    New  York  :  Harper  &  Brothers.     1871. 

*Milman,  H.  H.  The  History  of  the  Jews-,  from  the  earliest 
Period  down  to  Modern  Times.  3  vols.  London  :  Ward, 
Lock  &  Co.     New  York  :  A.  C.  Armstrong  &  Son.     1882. 

♦Stanley,  A.  P.  Lectures  on  the  History  of  the  Jewish  Church. 
3  Parts.  7th  edition.  London  :  J.  Murray.  New  York  : 
Scribner,  Annstrong  &  Co.     1877. 


4Y2  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

tEwALD,  Heinrich.  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel ;  ^  Bande, 
3  Aiisg.  ;  Gottingen :  Dieterich,  1864-68.  The  History 
of  Israel,  translated  from  the  German  ;  edited  by  R.  Mar- 
tineau  and  J.  E.  Carpenter.  London  :  Longman,  Green  & 
Co.     1871. 

tJosEPHUS,  Flavius.  Opera  omnia  Graecae  et  latinae,  curavit 
F.  Oberthiir,  3  tom.,  Lipsiae,  1782-85  ;  Opera  recog.,  G. 
Dindorf,  2  voll.,  Paris,  1845-49  ;  £diiio  Stereotypa,  6  voll., 
Lips.,  Tauchnitz,  1850;  trans,  W.  Whiston,  4  vols.,  London, 
1737  (many  editions). 

Hengstenberg,  E.  \N.  Geschichte  d.  Reiches  Gottes  unter  d.  alien 
Bufide ;  3  Theile;  Berlin:  G.  Schlawitz,  1869-71.  History 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God  under  the  Old  Testament,  translated 
from   the  German ;  2   vols.  ;    Edinburgh  :   T.  &  T.  Clark, 

1871-3. 

JosT,  J.  M.  Geschichte  des  Judenthums  tind  seiner  Secten.  3 
Bde.     Leipzig:  Dorffling  &  Franke.     1857-9. 

Graetz,  H.  Geschichte  der  Juden  von  den  dltesten  Zeiten  bis 
auf  die  Gegenwart.  1 1  Bde.  2  Aufl.  Leipzig :  Oskar 
Leiner.     1864-1870. 

(c)  Cotemporary  History  of  the  Old  Testament. 

♦Rawlinson,  G.  The  Five  Great  Monarchies  of  the  Ancient 
Eastern  World.     4  vols.     London  :  J.  Murray.     1862-67. 

♦Brugsch  Bey,  Henry.  Geschichte  Aegyptens  unter  den  Pha- 
raonen.  Leipzig,  J.  C.  Heinrichs.  A  History  of  Egypt  under 
the  Pharaohs,  derived  entirely  from  the  monuments.  Trans- 
lated and  edited  from  the  German  by  Philip  Smith.  2d 
edition.     2  vols.     London  :  J.  Murray.     1881. 

tLENORMANT,  Francois.  les  Origines  de  fhistoire ;  2  Tom.; 
Paris:  Maisoneuve  &  Cie,  1880-83.  The  Beginnings  of 
History  according  to  the  Bible  and  tne  traditions  of  Oriental 
peoples,  from  the  creation  of  man  to  the  deluge;  trans, 
from  the  2d  French  edition,  with  an  introduction  by  Francis 
Brown ;  New  York :  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  1882  (2d 
volume  in  press). 

fEBERS,  G.  Aegypten  und  die  Pitcher  Moses.  Sachl.  Com- 
mentar  zu  den  Aegypt.  Stellen  in  Genesis  u.  Exodus.  Leip- 
zig:  Engelmann.     1868. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  473 

tScHRADER,  E.  Die  Keilinschriften  und  das  Alte  Testament., 
init  einem  Beitrage  von  Paul.  Haupt.  2  Aufl.  Giessen  :  J. 
Ricker.     1883. 

ViGOUROUX,  Y.  La  Bible  et  les  d^couvertes  modernes  en  Pales- 
tine, en  Egypte  et  en  Assyrie.  3  edition.  4  Tom.  Paris  : 
Berche  et  Tralin.     1882. 

Hengstenberg,  E.  W.  Die  Bucher  Moses  und  Aegypten ; 
Berlin:  L.  Oehmigke,  184T.  Egypt  and  the  Books  of  Moses, 
translated  by  R.  D.  C.  Robbins  ;  New  York  :  Robert  Carter 
&  Brothers,  1850. 

SCHRADER,  E.  Die  Keilischriften  und  Geschichtsforschimg. 
Ein  Beitrag  zur  monumentalen  Geographic,  Geschichte  und 
Chronologic  der  Assyrer.     Giessen:  J.  Ricker.     1878. 

DuNKER,  Max.  Geschichte  des  Alterthum.  3  Aufl.  5  Bandc. 
Berlin.  1 880-81.  History  of  Antiquity.  From  the  Ger- 
man. By  E.  Abbott.  6  vols.  London  :  Richard  Bentley 
&  Son.     1877-82. 

Rawlinson,  Geo.  History  of  Ancient  Egypt.  2  vols.  Lon- 
don :  Longman,  Green  &  Co.      1881. 

Smith,  George.  The  Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis.  New 
edition.  London  :  Sampson  Low,  Marston  &  Co.  1880. 
New  York  :  Scribner,  Armstrong  &  Co.     1876. 

Smith,  George.  Assyrian  Discoveries ;  an  Account  of  Ex- 
plorations and  Discoveries  on  the  site  of  Nineveh  during 
1873  ^"d  1874,  with  illustrations.  New  edition,  edited  by 
A.  H.  Sayce,  t88o.  London  :  Sampson  I^ow  &  Co.  New 
York  :  Scribner,  Armstrong  &  Co.     1875. 

Budge,  Earnest  A.  The  History  of  Esarhaddon,  translated 
from  the  Cuneiform  inscriptions  upon  Cylinders  and  Tablets 
in  the  British  Museum.  Boston  :  J.  R.  Osgood  &  Co. 
1881. 

Wilkinson,  J.  G.  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient 
Egyptians.  New  edition,  revised  and  corrected  by  Samuel 
Birch.     3  vols.     London  :  J.  Murray.     1878. 

Smith,  Geo.  History  of  Assurbanipal.  Translated  from  the 
Cuneiform  Inscriptions.  London :  Williams  &  Norgate. 
1871. 


474  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Smith,  Geo.  The  Assyrian  Eponym  Canon-,  containing  trans- 
lations of  the  documents,  and  an  account  of  the  evidence, 
on  the  comparative  chronology  of  the  Assyrian  and  Jewish 
Kingdoms,  from  the  death  of  Solomon  to  Nebuchadnezzar. 
London  :  Samuel  Bagster  &  Sons.     1875. 

LoTZ,  W.  Die  Inschriften  Tiglathpilesers  in  transkribierten 
Assyrischen  Grundtext  mit  Uebersetzung  und  Kommentar. 
Leipzig:  J.  C.  Heinrichs.     1880. 

Lenormant,  Y.  Histoire  ancienne  de  F  Orient  jusqu'  aux 
giierres  mediques.  Neuvieme  Edition.  3  Tom.  Paris  :  A. 
Levy.     1881-83. 

Sharpe,  Samuel.  The  History  of  Egypt,  from  the  earliest 
times  till  the  conquest  of  the  Arabs.  2  vols.  London  : 
George  Bell  &  Son.     1876. 

ZiNCKE,  F.  B.  Egypt  of  the  Pharaohs  and  the  Khedive.  2d 
edition,     London  :  Smith,  Elder  &  Co.     1873. 

Kenrick,  J.     Phoenicia.     London:  B.  Fellows.     1855. 

Wii.KiNS,  A.  Phoenicia  and  Israel.  A  Historical  Essay. 
London  :  Hodder  &  Stoughton.     1871. 

NuTT,  J.  VV.  A  Sketch  of  Samaritan  History,  Dogma  and 
Literature.     London  :  Triibner  &  Co.     1874. 

Records  of  the  Past,  being  English  translations  of  the  Assyr- 
ian and  Egyptian  nionuments,  published  under  the  sanction 
of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology.  11  vols.  London: 
S.  Bagster  &  Sons.     1873-78. 

Cooper,  VV.  R.  An  Archaic  Dictionary ;  Biographical,  His- 
torical, and  Mythological,  from  the  Egyptian,  Assyrian,  and 
Etruscan  monuments  and  papyri.  London  :  Samuel  Bagster 
&  Sons.     1876. 

(3).  The  History  of  the  Jews  and  their  Sur- 
roundings during  the  Greek  and  Roman 
Periods. 

(a)  The  Apocryphal  Books  of  the  Old  Testament. 

*The  Apocrypha,  Greek  and  English  in  parallel  columns. 
London  :  S.  Bagster  &  Co.     187 1. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  475 

tBissELL,  E.  C.  The  Apocrypha  of  the  Old  Testament,  with 
historical  introductions,  a  revised  translation,  and  notes, 
critical  and  explanatory.  New  York  :  Charles  Scribner's 
Sons.     1880. 

Kurtzgefasstes  Handbuch  z.  d.  Apokryphen  des  Alten  Testa- 
mentes,  erklart  von  O.  F.  Fritzsche  u.  C.  L.  W.  Grimnu  6 
Bde.     Leipzig:  S.  Hirzel.     1851-60. 

Deane,  W.  J.  The  Book  of  Wisdom.  The  Greek  text,  the 
Latin  Vulgate,  and  the  authorized  English  version,  with  an 
introduction,  critical  apparatus,  and  a  Commentary.  Ox- 
ford :  Clarendon  Press.     188  r. 

Neljbauer,  a.  The  Book  of  Tobit.  A  Chaldee  text,  from  a 
unique  MS.  in  the  Bodleian  Library,  with  other  Rabbinical 
texts,  English  translation  and  the  Itala.  Oxford  :  Clarendon 
Press.     1878. 

Keil,  C.  F.  Commentar  uber  die  Bucher  der  Makkabder. 
Leipzig:  Dorffling  &  Franke.      1875. 

Kneucker,  J.  J.  Das  Buck  Baruck.  Geschichte  und  Kritik, 
Uebersetzung  und  Erkliirung,  mit  einem  Anhang  fiber  den 
pseudepigraphischen  Baruch.  Leipzig :  F.  A.  Brockhaus. 
1879. 

Volkmar,  G.  Handbuch  der  Einleitung  in  die  Apokryphen.  3 
Bde.     Leipzig:  J.  Fues.     1860-67. 

(b)  Pseudepigraphs. 

♦ScHODDE,  G.  H.  The  Book  of  Enoch,  translated  from  the 
Ethiopic,  with  introduction  and  notes.  Andover :  W.  F. 
Draper.      1882. 

fFABRlCius,  J.  A.  Codex  Pseudepigraphi  Veteris  Testamenti. 
Editio  altera.  2  voll.  Hamburg :  apud  Viduam  Felginer- 
iam  et  Bohmium.     1722-23. 

tDiLLMANN,  A.  Das  Buck  Henoch;  iibersetzt  und  erklart. 
Leipzig  :  F.  C.  W.  Vogel.     1853. 

fHiLGENFEi.D,  A.  Mcssias  Judaeorum ;  libris  eorum  paulo 
ante  et  paulo  post  Christum  natum  conscriptis  illustratus. 
Lipsiae  :  R.  Reisland.     1869. 

fFRiEDLiEB,  J.  H.  Oracula  Sibyllina,  ad  fidem  codd.  MSS. 
quotquot  extant  recensuit,  praetextis  jirolegominis  illustravit, 
versione  Germanica  instruxit,  annotaiiones  criticas  et  rerum 
indicem  adjecit.     Lipsae  :  T.  O.  Weigel.     1852. 


470  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

fLANGEN,  J.  De  Apocalysi  Baruchy  commentatio  anno  sii- 
pericis  prumium  edita.     Freiburg:  Herder.     1867. 

Dii.i.MANN,  A.  Liber  Henoch  Aclhiopicae,  ad  quinque  codi- 
cnm  fidein  editus  cum  variis  lectionibus.  Lipsiae  :  F.  C. 
W.  Vogel.     18 SI. 

DiLLMANN,  A.  Ascensio  Isaiae  Aethiopiae  et.  Latine.  iJpsiae  : 
F.  A.  Brockhaus.     1877. 

RoENSCH,  H.  Das  Buck  der  Jubilaen  oder  die  kleine  Genesis. 
Unter  beifugung  des  revirdirten  Textes  der  in  der  Ambro- 
siana  aufgefundenen  lat.  Fr.agmente,  sovie  einer  von  A. 
Dillmann  aus  2  athiop.  Handschrift.  gefertigten  lat.  Ueber- 
tragung  erlaiitert  und  untersucht.     Leipzig  :  J.  Fues.     1874. 

(c)  History. 

*Prideaux,  Humphrey.  The  Old  and  New  Testaments  con- 
nected in  the  history  of  the  Jews  and  neighboring  nations, 
from  the  declension  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  and  Judah  to 
the  time  of  Christ.  New  edition,  revised,  with  notes,  anal- 
yses, and  introductory  reviews,  by  J.  Talboys  Wheeler.  3d 
edition.     2  vols.     London  :  Thomas  Tegg.      1876. 

*CuRTius,  Ernst.  Griechische  Geschichte.  3  Aufl.  3  Bde. 
Berlin :  VVeidmann.  1868.  The  History  of  Greece.  5 
vols.  Translated  by  A.  W.  Ward.  New  York  :  Scribner, 
Armstrong  &  Co.      1874. 

*MoMMSEN,  Theo.  Romische  Geschichte.,  5  Aufl.  3  Bde. 
Berlin  :  Weidmann.  1868.  The  History  of  Rome.  Trans- 
lated by  W.  P.  Dickson.  2d  edition.  4  vols.  London  :  Rich- 
ard Bentley.     New  York  :  Charles  Scribner.     1864-6. 

tMoNTET,  Edouard.  Essai  sur  les  origines  des  partis  Sadu- 
cien  et  Pharisien  et  leiir  Hi  stair  e  fusqu  a  la  naissance  de 
Jdsus  Christ.     Paris  :  Fischbach,     1883. 

Lucius,  P.  E.  Der  Essenismus  in  seinem  Verhdltniss  zum 
Judenthum.     Strassburg  :  C.  F.  Schmidt.     1881, 

AVellhausen,  J.  Die  Pharisder  und  die  Sadducder.  Greifs- 
wald :   Bamberg.     1874. 

(4).  New  Testament  History. 

(a)  Cotemporary  History. 

*JosEPHUS,  Flavius.  The  Jewish  War.,  with  his  autobiography. 
A  new  translation,  by  R.  Traill,  edited,  with  notes,  by  Isaac 
Taylor.     London  :  Houlston  &  Wright.     1868. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  477 

tScHUERER,  Emil.  Lchrbuch  der  Neittestamentliche  Zeitge- 
schichte.     Leipzig  :  J.  C.  Heinrichs.     1874. 

Hausrath,  a.  Neutestamentliche  Zeitgeschichte.  2  Aufl.  4 
The.  Heidelberg:  F.  Bassermann,  1874-77.  History  of 
the  Netv  Tesfament  Times.  Translated  by  C.  T.  Foynting 
and  P.  Queuzer.  Williams  &  Norgate.  1878-83.  (Two 
vols,  only  have  appeared.) 

DoLLiNGER,  J.  J.  I.  Heidenthum  und  Judenthum.  Vorhalle 
zur  Geschichte  des  Christenthums.  Regensburg :  C,  J. 
Manz.     1857. 

Friedlander,  L.  Darstellung  aus  der  Sittengeschichte  Roms. 
in  der  Zeit  von  August  bis  zum  Ausgang  der  Antonine,  5 
Aufl,     3  Theile.     Leipzig :  S.  Hirzel.     1881. 

(b)  Apocryphal  and  Pseudepigraphical  books  relat- 
ing to  the  origin  of  Christianity. 

tTiscHENDORF,  C.  Evatigelia  apocrypha.  Leipzig  :  Avenarius 
&  Mendelssohn.     1853. 

tTiscHENDORF,  C.  Apocalypses  apocryphae.  Mosis,  Esdrae, 
Pauli,  Johannis,  item  Mariae  dormito.  Leipzig  :  H.  Men- 
delssohn.     1866. 

tLiPSius,  P.  A.  Die  Apokryphen  Apostelgeschichten  und  Apos- 
telle^enden.  Ein  Beitrag'  zur  altchristlichen  Literaturgesch- 
ichte.     Braunschweig  :  C.  A.  Schwetschke  &  Sohn.     1883. 

TisCHENDORF,  C.  Acta  Apostolorum  apocrypha.  Leipzig  : 
Avenarius  &  Mendelssohn.     185 1. 

Baring-Gould,  S.  The  lost  and  hostile  Gospels.  An  Essay  on 
the  Toledeth  Jeschu  and  the  Petrine  and  Pauline  Gospels 
of  the  first  three  centuries,  of  which  fragments  remain.  Lon- 
don :  Williams  &  Norgate.     1874. 

Wright,  William.  Apocryphal  Literature  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment     London  :  Williams  &  Norgate.     1865. 

Cooper,  B.  Harris.  Apocryphal  Gospels  and  Documents  relat- 
ing to  Christ.     London  :  Williams  &  Norgate.     1867. 

Bonnet,  Max.  Acta  Thomae.  Graece  partim  cum  novis  cod- 
icibus  contulit  primus  edidit  Latine  recensuit  praefaetus  est. 
Lipsiae  :  H.  Mendelsohn.     1883. 


478  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

(c)  Life  of  Jesus  Christ. 
♦Farrar,    F.    VV.      The   Life   of  Christ.     2    vols.     London : 
Petter,  Galpin   &  Co.     New  York :  E.   P.   Button  &   Co. 
1874. 

♦Geikie,  C.  The  Life  and  Words  of  Christ.  New  edition. 
London:  Strahan  &  Co.  J878,  New  York  :  D.  Appleton 
&  Co.      1877. 

+Weiss,  Bernhard.  Das  Leben  Jesu.  2  Bde.  Berlin  :  Wil- 
helm  Her^.  1882-3.  Translated  by  J.  W.  Hope.  Edin- 
burgh :  T.  &  T.  Clark.  1883.  (The  first  vol.  only  has  ap- 
peared.) 

f  Ullmann,  C.  Die  Siindlosigkeit  Jesu.  7  Aufl.  Gotha  :  F. 
A.  Perthes.  1863.  The  Sinless ness  of  Jesus.  Translated 
from  the  6th  German  edition  by  R.  C.  Brown.  Edinburgh  : 
T.  &  T.  Clark.  New  edition,  translated  by  Sophia  Taylor. 
1870. 

tCASPARi,  C.  E.  Chronolog-geograph.  Einleitung  in  d.  Leben 
Jesu  Christi.  Hamburgh  :  Agentur  des  Rauen  Hauses.  1869. 
A  Chronological  and  Geographical  Introduction  to  the  Life 
of  Christ.  Translated  by  M.  J.  Evans.  Edinburgh  :  T.  & 
T.  Clark.     1876. 

Keim,  Th.  Geschichte  Jesu  von  Nazara  in  ihrer  Verkettung 
mit  dem  Gesammtleben  seines  Volkes.  3  Bde.  Ziirich : 
Orell,  Fiissle  &  Co.  1867-72.  The  History  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  Translated  by  Ransom  &  Gilbert.  5  vols. 
Williams  &  Norgate.     1873  "8^- 

Andrews,  S.  J.  The  Life  of  our  Lord  upQn  earth.  Consid- 
ered in  its  historical,  chronological,  and  geographical  rela- 
tions, 4th  eilition.  New  York  :  Charles  Scribner  &  Co. 
1868. 

Strauss,  David.  Das  Leben  Jesu  kritisch  bearbeitet.  3  Aufl. 
2  Bde.  Tubingen:  C.  F.  Osiander.  1838-39.  Das  leben 
Jesu  fiir  das  deutsche  Volks.  3  Aufl.  Leipzig :  F.  A. 
Brockhaus.  1874.  Life  of  Jesus.  Authorized  translation. 
2d  edition.     2  vols.     London:  Williams  &  Norgate.     1879. 

Neander,  a.  Das  Leben  Jesu  in  seinen  geschichtlichen  Zusam- 
menhange  and  seiner  geschichtlichen  Entwickelung  darge- 
stellt.  7  Aufl.  Gotha :  F.  A.  Perthes.  1873.  The  Life 
of  Jesus.  Translated  from  the  4th  (jerman  edition  by  J. 
McClintock  and  C.  E.  Blumenthal.  3d  edition.  New  York  : 
Harper  &  Brothers,     1850. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  479 

Hase,  K.  Geschichte  Jesu.  Leipzig :  Breitkopf  &  Hartel. 
1876. 

Hervey,  Arthur.  Genealogies  of  our  Saviour,  from  Matthew 
and  Luke,     London  :  Bell  &  Daldy.     1853. 

Trench,  R.  C.  Notes  on  the  Miracles  of  our  Lord.  loth  edi- 
tion. London  :  Macrnillan  &  Co.  1874.  New  York  :  D, 
Appleton  &  Co.     1858. 

Renan,  Ernest.  Vie  de  J^sus.  17  ed.  Paris:  Calmann  Levy. 
1882.  Life  of  fesus.  Translated  from  the  original  French,  by 
C.  E.  Wilbour.     New  York  :  G.  W.  Carleton  &  Co.     1862. 

Stroud,  William.  A  Treatise  on  the  physical  cause  of  the 
death  of  Christ,  and  its  relation  to  the  principles  and  prac- 
tice of  Christianity.  2d  edition.  London  :  Hamilton,  Adams 
&  Co,     New  York  :  D,  Appleton  &  Co.     1871. 

Jameson,  Anna,  and  E.  Eastlake.  The  History  of  our  Lora 
as  exemplified  in  Works  of  Art,  with  that  of  His  types  ;  St, 
John  the  Baptist ;  and  other  Persons  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament.  Commenced  by  the  late  Mrs.  Jameson,  con- 
tinued and  completed  by  Lady  Eastlake.  2  vols.  London  : 
Longman,  Green,  Longman,  Roberts,  &  Green.     1864. 

LuDOLPHUS  DE  Saxonia.  Vita  Jesu  Christ  e  quat.  evang  et 
scriptoribus  orthodox,  concinnata,  Strasburg,  1470,  Ed, 
Bolard  et  Carnandes.     Bruxelles.     1870. 

(d)  The  Apostolical  Church. 

*Schaff,  Philip.  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  A  new 
edition,  thoroughly  revised  and  enlarged.  Vol.  L  Apostoli- 
cal Christianity,  A-.d.  i-ioo.  New  York:  Charles  Scribner's 
Sons.     1882. 

♦Conybeare,  W.  J.,  and  J.  S.  Howson.  The  Life  and  epistles 
of  St.  Paul.  2  vols.  London  :  Longmans,  Green  &  Co. 
1875.  New  edition,  1877.  2  vols,  in  i.  New  York; 
Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 

♦McDonald,  J.  M.  Life  and  writings  of  St.  John.  Edited 
with  an  introduction  by  J,  S.  Howson.  New  York  :  Scribner, 
Armstrong  «&  Co.      1877. 

♦Howson,  J.  S.  Horae  Petrinae  ;  or.  Studies  in  the  life  of  St. 
Peter.     London  :  Religious  Tract  Society,     1883, 


480  BIBLICAJ.  STUDY. 

*HowsoN,  John  S.  TJie  Companions  of  St  Paul  London  : 
A.  Strahan.     187 1. 

fLEWiN,  Thomas.  The  life  aud  epistles  of  St.  Paul  3d  edi- 
tion.    2  vols.     London  :  Geo.  Bell  &  Sons.     1875. 

+Neander,  a.  Geschichte  der  Pflanzung  und  Leitung  der 
christlichen  Kirche  dtirch  die  Apostel.  5  Aufl.  Gotha  :  F. 
A.Perthes.  1862.  History  of  the  Planting  and  Training 
of  the  Christian  Church.  Translated  from  the  German  by 
J.  E.  Ryland.  Revised  and  corrected  according  to  the  4th 
German  edition  by  E.  G.  Robinson.  New  York  :  Sheldon 
&  Co.     1865. 

Baumgarten,  M.  Die  Apostelgeschichte  o^qx  der  Entwicke- 
lungsgang  der  Kirche  von  Jerusalem  bis  Rom.  2  Thle. 
Halle  :  G.  A.  Schwetscke  &  Sohn.     1852. 

Farrar,  F.  W.  The  life  and  work  of  St.  Paul.  2  vols. 
London  :  Cassell.     1879.     New  York  :  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co. 

Smith,  James.  The  Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul.  4th 
edition,  revised  and  corrected  by  VV.  E.  Smith.  I^ondon  : 
Longmans,  Green  &  Co.     1880. 

• 

Renan,  Ernest.  Histoire  des  Origines  du  Christianisme.  7 
vol.     Paris  :  Calmann  Levy.     1 882-1 883. 

VIII.— Biblical  Theology. 

(i)  Theology  of  the  Bible. 

(a)  The  Theology  of  the  whole  Bible. 

f  Ewald,  Heinrich.  Lehre  der  Bibel  von  Gott  oder  Theologic 
des  Alten  und  Neuen  Bundes.  4  Bde.  Leipzig :  F.  C.  W. 
Vogel.     1871-76. 

(b)  Special  Topics. 

•f  Delitzsch,  Franz.  System  d.  Biblischen  Psychologic.  2  Aufl. 
Leipzig  :  Dorffling  &  Franke.  1863.  System  of  Biblical 
Psychology.  Trans,  by  R.  E.  Wallis.  2  edit.  Edinburgh  : 
T.  &  T.  Clark.     1867. 

fCAVE,  Alfred.  The  Scriptural  Doctrine  of  Sacrifice.  Edin- 
burgh: T.  &T.  Clark.     1877. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  481 

I.AiDLAW,  John.  The  Bible  doctrine  of  man.  Edinburgh  :  T. 
&T.  Clark.     1879. 

Fairbairn,  Patrick.  The  Revelation  of  Law  in  Scripture. 
Considered  with  respect  both  to  its  own  nature  and  to  its 
relative  place  in  successive  dispensations.  Edinburgh :  T. 
&  T.  Clark.     1868. 

Fairbairn,  Patrick.     The  Typology  of  Scripture.     Viewed  in 
connection  with  the  whole  series  of  the  divine  dispensations. 
6th  edition.     2  vols.     Edinburgh  :   T.  &  T.  Clark.     1876.* 
New  York  :  N.  Tibbals  &  Sons.     1880. 

Beck,  J.  T.  Umriss  d.  bibl.  Seclenlehre.  3  Aufl.  Stuttgart : 
J.  F.  Steinkopf.  1871.  Outlines  of  Biblical  Psychology. 
Translated  from  the  3d  German  edition,  1871.  Edinburgh: 
T.  &  T.  Clark.     1877. 

(2)  Theology  of  the  Old  Testament. 

(a)  Theology  of  the  old  religions. 

*Rawlinson,  George,  The  Religioiis  of  the  Ancient  World, 
London  :  Religious  Tract  Society.  1882.  New  York : 
Charles  Scribper's  Sons.     1883. 

fLE  NORM  ANT,  F.  Lcs  Scienccs  occultes  en  Asie.  La  Magie  chez 
les  Chaldeens  et  les  origineaux  Accadiennes.  Paris  :  Maison- 
neuve  et  Cie,  1874.  Chaldean  Magic  Its  origin  and 
development.  Translated  from  the  French,  with  consider- 
able additions,  by  the  author,  and  notes  by  the  editor. 
London  :  S.  Bagster  &:  Sons,     1877. 

ScHRADER,  E.  Die  Hollenfahrtder  Lstar.  Ein  altbabylonisches 
Epos  nebst  Proben  assyrischer  Lyrik.  Giessen  :  J.  Ricker. 
1874. 

Krehl,   L,      Ueber   die  Religion   der   vorislamischen   Araber. 


Leipzig:  Serig.     1863. 


*<b 


Movers,  J.  C.  Die  Phonizier.  3  Bde.  Bonn  :  E,  Weber. 
1841-50. 

Baudissen,  VV.  W.  Studien  zur  Semitischen  Religionsgeschichte. 
1-2  HefL     Leipzig  :  W.  Grunow.     1876-79, 

Spiess,  Edmund.  Entwicklungsgeschichte  der  Vorstellungen 
von  Zustande  riach  dem  Tode  auf  Gnmd  vergleichender  Re- 
ligionsforschung.     Jena  :  H.  Costenoble.     1877. 

21 


482  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

TiELE,  C.  P.  Vergelijkende  geschiedenis  der  Egyptische  en 
Mesopoiamische  godsdiensten.  Anisterdatn  :  P.  N.  Van 
Kampen.  1869-72.  History  of  the  Egyptian  Religion, 
Vol.  I.  Translated  by  James  Ballingal.  Boston:  Houghton, 
Mifflin  &  Co. 

(b)  The  Old  Testament  as  a  whole. 

♦Oehler,  G.  F.  Vorlesungen  iiber  die  Theologie  d.  Alt.  Test. 
2  Bde.  2  Aufl.  1883.  Theology  of  the  Old  Testament.  2 
vols.  Edinburgh:  T.  &  T.  Clark.  1S74.  Revised  edition 
by  G.  E.  Day.     New  York:   Funk  &Wagnalls.     1883. 

•fScHULTZ,  Hermann.  Alttestameniliche  Theologie.  Die  offen- 
barungsreligion  auf  ihrer  vorchristlichen  Entwickelungsstufe, 
dargestellt.     2   Aufl.     Frankfurt-a-M, :  Heyder  &  Zimnier. 

1878. 

HoFMANN,  J.  C.  R.  Der  Schriftbeweis.  2  Aufl.  3  Bde. 
Nordlingen  :  C.  H.  Beck.     1857-60. 

Cc)  The  Religion  of  Israel. 

tKoNiG,  F.  E.     Der  Offenbarungsbegriff  des  Alten  Testamentes. 
2  Bde.     Leipzig  :  J.  C.  Heinrichs.     1882. 

f  Tholuck,  a.  Die  Propheten  und  ihre  Weissagufigen-  Gotha  : 
F.  A.  Perthes.     Abd.  2.     1861. 

fKuPER.  Das  Frophetenthum  des  Alten  Bundes.  I^eipzig : 
Dorffling  &  Franke.     1870. 

Kuenen,  a.  De  Godsdienst  van  Israel  tot  den  Ondergang 
van  den  Joodschen  Staat.  Haarlem,  1869.  The  Religion  of 
Israel.  Translated  from  the  Dutch  by  A.  H.  May.  3  vols. 
London  :  Williams  &  Norgate.     1874-5. 

Kuenen,  A.  De  Profeten  en  de  Profetie  on  der  Israel  Leiden. 
1875.  The  Prophets  and  Prophecy  in  Israel.  Translated 
from  the  Dutch  by  A.  Milroy,  with  an  introduction  by  J. 
Muir.     I^ondon  :  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.    1877. 

Trip,  J.  Die  Theophanien  in  den  Geschichtsbuechern  des  Alten 
Testaments.     Leiden:  D.  Noolhoven  van  Goor.     1858.  _ 

(d)  Religious  Institutions. 

♦Atwater,  Edward  E.  History  and  Significance  of  the  Sa- 
cred Tabernacle  of  the  Hebrews.  New  York :  Dodd  & 
Mead.     1875. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  483 

♦Edersheim,  a.  The  temple.,  its  ministry  and  services  as  they 
were  in  the  time  of  Christ.  London :  T,  Nelson  &  Sons. 
1874. 

f  Bahr,  K.  C.  W.  F.  Svmbolikjes  Mosaischen  Ciiltus.  I.  Bd., 
2te  Aufl.,  1874;  11.  Bd.,  1839.    Heidelberg:  J.  C.  B.  Mohr. 

tSAALSCHUTZ,  J.  L.  Das  Mosaische  Recht  nebst  den  vervoll- 
standigenden  thalmudisch-rabbinischen  Bestimmungen.  2 
Aufl.     2  Theile.     Berlin :  C.  Heymann.     1853. 

Warburton,  William.  The  divine  Legation  of  Moses  demon- 
strated.    3  vols.     London  :  Thomas  Tegg.     1846. 

Wines,  E.  C.  Commentaries  on  the  Laws  of  the  Ancient  He- 
brews.    New  York  :  G.  P.  Putnam  &  Co.     1855. 

MiCHAELis,  J.  D.  Commentaries  on  the  law  of  Moses.  4  vols. 
London:  Rivingtons.     1814. 

Kurtz,  J.  H.  Der  Alttestamentliche  Opfercultus.  Ein  nach 
seiner  gesetzlichen  Begrundung  und  Anwendung.  Mitau : 
A.  Neumann.  1862.  Sacrificial  Worship  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament.    Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1863. 

Bahr,  K.  C.  W.  F.  Der  Salomonische  Tempel  mit  Beriick- 
sichtigung  seines  Vorhaltnisses  zur  heiligen  Architectur. 
Karlsruhe:  C.  T.  Groos.      1848. 


(e)  Special  Doctrines  of  the  Old  Testament. 

"|*Orelli,  von  C.  Die  alttestamentliche  Weissagung  von  der 
Vollendung  des  Gottesreiches.     Wien  :  G.  P.  Faesy.     1882. 

"{"RiKHM,  E.  Begriff.  d.  Siihne  im  Alten  Testament.  Gotha  : 
F.  A.  Perthes.     1877. 

f  RiEHM,  Ed.  Die  Messianische  Weissagung  ihre  Entstehung, 
ihr  zeitgeschichtlicher  Charakter  und  ihr  Verhaltnis  zu  der 
neutestamentlichen  ErfUllung.  Gotha  :  F.  A.  Perthes,  1875. 
Messianic  Prophecy.  Translated  by  J.  Jefferson.  Edinburgh  : 
T.  &  T.  Clark.     1875. 

f  BoTTCHER,  F.  De  inferis  rebusque  post  mortem  futuris  ex. 
Hebraeorum  et  Graeconim  opinionibus  libri  duo.  Dresden  : 
H.  M.  Gottschalck.     1846. 


484  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

Reinke,  T«  Die  Messianischen  Weissagungen  bei  den  grossen 
und  kleinen  Propheten  des  A.  T.  4Bde.  Giesen  :  E.  Roth. 
1859-62. 

Kahle,  Albert.  Biblische  Eschatologie.  Abth.  I.  Escha- 
tologie  des  Alien  Test.     Gotha:  G.  Schlcessinann.     1870. 

WuENSCHE,  Aug.  Die  Leiden  des  Messias  in  ihrer  Ueberein- 
siimmung  mit  der  Lehre  des  Alten  Testaments  und  den  Aus- 
spriichen  der  Rabbinen  in  den  Talmuden,  Midraschim  und 
andern  alten  rabbinischen  Schriften.  Leipzig  :  R.  Reisland. 
1870. 

Hengstenberg,  E.  W.  Christologie  des  Alten  Testaments.  2 
Aufl.  3  Bde.  Berlin  :  L.  Oehniigke.  1854-56.  Christology 
of  the  Old  Testament.  Trans,  by  T.  Meyer.  4  vols.  Edin- 
burgh :  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1859-65. 

(3).  Theology  of  the  Jews  during  the  Greek  and 

Roman  Periods. 

(a)  The  Theolog^y  of  the  surrounding  Religions. 

Nagelsbach,  K.  F.  Homerische  Theologie.  2  Aufl.  von  G. 
Autenrieth.     Niirnberg :  C.  Geiger.      1861. 

Nagelsbach,  K.  F.  •  Die  nachhomerische  Theologie  des  grie- 
chischen  Volksglauben  bis  auf  Alexander  Niirnberg  :  C. 
Geiger.     1857. 

Tyler,  W.  S.  The  Theology  of  the '  Greek  Poets.  Andover : 
W.  F.  Draper.     1870. 

Lewis,  Tavler.  Plato  against  the  Atheists  ;  or,  the  tenth  book 
of  the  dialogues  on  Laws,  as  accompanied  with  critical  notes 
and  followed  by  extended  dissertations  on  some  of  the  main 
points  of  the  Platonic  Philosophy  and  Theology,  especially 
as  compared  with  the  Holy  Scripture.  New  York  :  Harper 
&  Brothers.     1845. 

Pressense,  E.  de.  The  Religions  before  Christ.  Being  an 
Introduction  to  the  History  of  the  first  three  centuries  of  the 
Church.  Translated  by  L.  Corkran.  Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T. 
Clark.     1862. 

Darbistan,  the  ■;  or  School  of  Manners.  Translated  from  the 
original  Persian.  With  notes  and  illustrations  by  David 
Shea  and  Anthony  Troyer.  3  vols.  London  :  Allen  &  Co. 
1843. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  435 

(b)  Theology  of  the  Apocryphal  books  and  Pseud- 
epigraphs. 

♦Drummond,  James.  The  Jewish  Messiah.  A  critical  his- 
tory of  the  Messianic  idea  among  the  Jews  from  the  rise  of 
the  Maccabee  to  the  closing  of  the  Talmud,  London : 
Longmans,  Green  &  Co.     1877. 

fBRETSCHNEiDER,  K.  G.  Systetnatische  Darstellung  der  Dog- 
matik  unci  Moral  der  apocryphischen  Schriften  des  Alien 
Testaments-     Leipzig:  G.  L.  Crusius.     1805. 

"{"ViTRiNGA,  C.  De  Synagogevetere.  I-eucopetriae:  J.  F.  Wehr- 
niann.  1726.  The  Synagogue  and  the  Church.  Condensed 
from  the  original  Latin  work  of  Vitringa  by  J.  L.  Bernard. 
London  :  B.  Fellows.     1842. 

fLANGEN,  J.  Das  Judenthum  in  Paldstina  zur  Zeit  Christi, 
Ein  Beitrag  zur  Ofifenbarvmgs-und  religions-geschichte  als 
Einleitung  in  die  Theologie  des  N.  T.  Freiburg  im  B.  : 
Herder.     1866. 


(c)  Later  Jewish  Theology. 

tZuNZ,  L.  Die  gottesdienstlichen  Vortrage  der  Juden,  historisch 
entwickelt.     Berlin :  A.  Asher.     1832. 

fWEBER,  F.  System  der  altsynagogalen  paldstinischen  Theologie 
aus  Targum,  Midrasch,  und  Talmud.  Leipzig :  Dorffling  & 
Franke.     1880. 

Chiarini,  L.  Le  Talmud  de  Babylone  traduit  en  langue  Fran- 
gaise  et  complete  par  celui  de  Jerusalem  et  par  d'autres 
monnmens  de  I'antiquite  Judaique.  2  voll.  Leipzig:  J.  A. 
G.  Weigel.     1831. 

SuRENHUSius,  G.  Mishna  sive  totius  Hebraeorum  Juris, 
Rituum,  Antiquitatum,  ac  Legum  oralium  Systema.  6  Pars 
Amstelaedami.     1698-1702. 

Schwab,  M.  Le  Talmud  de  Jerusalem  traduit  pour  la  pre- 
miere fois.  6  Tom.  (thus  far  published).  Paris :  Maison- 
euve  &  Ce.     1871-83. 


486  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

(4)  New  Testament  Theology. 

(a)  As  a  whole. 

♦Bernard,  T.  D.  The  Progress  of  Doctrine  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament. Bampton  Lecture,  3  edition.  London  :  Macinil- 
lan  &  Co.     1873.     2d  edition.     Gould  &  Lincoln.     1868.^ 

tWEiss,  Bernhard.  Lehrbuch  der  Biblischen  Theologie  des 
Neuen  Testaments;  3  Aufl.,  Berlin,  Wilhelm  Hertz,  1880. 
Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Testament-,  translated  from 
the  third  revised  edition  by  D.  Eaton ;  2  vols.;  Edinburgh  : 
T.  &  T.  Clark,  1882-83. 

tScHMiD,  C.  F.  Biblische  Theologie  des  Neuen  Testaments, 
herausg.  von  Heller,  4  Aufl.  ;  Gotha,  1869.  Biblical  The- 
ology of  the  New  Testament;  Edinburgh:  T.  &  T.  Clark. 
1870. 

Baur,  F.  C.  Vorlesungen  Uber  NeutestamentUche  Theologie, 
herausgegeben  von  F.  F.  Baur.  Leipzig :  L.  W.  Reisland. 
1864. 

Reuss,  Eduard.  Histoire  de  la  Theologie  Chritienne  au  Sihle 
Apostolique ;  3  edit.;  Strasbourg,  Treuttel  &  Wiirtz,  1864. 
History  of  Christian  Theology  in  the  Apostolic  Age,  trans- 
lated from  the  3d  edition  by  Annie  Harwood  ;  2  vols. ; 
London,  Hodder  &  Stoughton,  1872. 

LuTTERBECK,  A.  B.  Die  NeutestamentUche  Lehrbegriffen,  ein 
Handbuch  fur  alteste  Dogmengeschichte  und  systeniatische 
Exegese  des  Neuen  Testamentes.  2  Bande.  Mainz :  F. 
Kupferberg.     1852. 

OosTERZEE  Van,  J.  J.  De  Theologie  des  Niewen  Verbonds. 
2  vorm.  Utrecht  :  Kermink  &  Zn.  1867.  The  Theology 
of  the  Neiv  Testament.  Translated  from  the  Dutch  by  M. 
J.  Evans.     New  York  :  Dodd  &  Mead.     1871. 


(b)  Theology  of  Gospels. 

♦Bruce,  A.  B.  The  Training  of  the  Twelve,  or  passages  out 
of  the  Gospels  exhibiting  the  twelve  disciples  of  Jesus  under 
discipline  for  the  apostleship.  3d  edition.  Edinburgh  :  T. 
&  T.Clark.     1883. 


BOOKS  OF  REFERENCE  FOR  BIBLICAL  STUDY.  487 

Hardwick,  C.  Christ  and  other  Masters.  An  historical 
inquiry  into  some  of  the  chief  parallehsnis  and  contrasts 
between  Christianity  and  the  religious  systems  of  the  An- 
cient World.  New  edition.  Cambridge  :  MacmiUan  &  Co. 
1883. 

Smeaton,  George.  The  Doctrine  of  the  Atonement  as  Taught 
'    by  Christ  Himself.     Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1868. 

Weiffenbach,  \S.  Der  Wiederkunftsgedankes  Jesu,  nach  den 
Synoptikern  kritisch  untersucht  und  dargestellt.  l^eipzig  : 
Breitkopf  &  Hartel.     1S73. 

(c)  Theology  of  the  Epistles. 

tOpiTZ,  Hermann.  Das  System  des  Paulus  nach  seinen  Briefen. 
Gotha  :  F.  A.  Perthes.     1874. 

tRiEHM,  Ed.  K.  a.  Der  Lehrbegriff  des  Hebrderbriefes J^r- 
gestellt  und  mit  verwandten  Lehrbegriffen  verglichen.  Neue 
Ausg.     Basel :  Balmer  &  Riehm.     1867. 

tGEBHARDT,    HERMANN.      Der   Lehrbegriff  der   Apokalypse. 

Gotha,   Besser,    1873.      The   Doctrine   of  the   Apocalypse, 

translated  from  the  German  by  J.  Jefferson  ;  Edmburgh,  1. 

&  T.Clark,  1878. 
Irons,  W.  J.     Christianity  as  Taught  by  St.  Paul.     2d  edition. 

Oxford  :  James  Parker  &  Co.     1876. 

UsTERi  L.  Entwickelun^  des  Paidinischen  Lehrbegriffes  m 
sein'em  Verhaltnisse  zur  biblischen  Dogmatik  des  Neuen 
Testamentes.  6  Ausg.  Zurich:  Orell,  Fiissle  &  Co. 
1851. 

Baur,  F.  C.  Paulus,  der  Apostel  Jesu  CZ/nV//-  Sein  I.eben 
und  Werken,  seine  Briefe  und  seine  Lehre.  Em  Beitrag  zu 
einer  kiitischen  Geschichte  des  Urchnstenthums  2  Auti. 
nach  dem  Tode  des  Verfassers  besorgt  von  E.  Zeller.  2 
Theile.     Leipzig :  L.  W.  Reisland.     1866-67. 

Sabatier,  S.  DApotre  Paul.  Esquisse  d'une  histoire  de  sa 
pensie.     2  edit.     Paris :  G.  Fischbacher.     i83i. 

Hoi.sTEN,   C.     Zum   Evangelium   des  Paulus  u.  .des  Petrus. 
Rostock  :  H.  Schmidt.     1868. 


488  BIBLICAL  STUDY. 

HoLSTEN,  C.  Das  Evangelium  des  Paulus.  Teil  I.  Berlin. 
1880. 

Thoma,  Alb.^  Die  Genesis  des  Johanncs-Evangelium.  Ber- 
lin :  G.  Reimer.     1882. 

Haupt,  Erich.  Der  Erste  Brief  des  Johannes.  Beitrag  z. 
bib.  Theol. ;  Coberg  :  Post,  1869.  The  Eirst  Epistle  of 
John :  A  contribution  to  Biblical  Theology,  translated,  with 
an  introduction  by  VV.  B.  Pope  ;  Edinburgh,  T.  &  T.  Clark, 

1879. 

Smeaton,  George.  The  Doctrine  of  the  Atonement  as  taught 
by  the  Apostles.     Edinburgh  :  T.  &  T.  Clark.     1870. 

Schmidt,  W.  G.  Der  Lehrgehalt  des  Jakobusbriefes.  Leipzig  : 
Heinrichs.     1869. 

(d)  Special  Doctrines  in  the  New  Testament. 

*Jacob,  G.  a.  The  Ecclesiastical  Polity  of  the  New  Testa- 
tament.     London:  Slrahan  &  Co.     1871. 

tERNESTi,  H.  F.  T.  L..  Die  Ethik  des  Apostel  Paulus.  3  Aufl. 
Braunschweig  :  E.  Leibrock,     1880. 

Gess,  W.  F.  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  nach  Christi  Selbst- 
zeugniss  und  den  Zeugnissen  der  Apostel.  2  Abtheil. 
Basel:  C.  Detloff.     1870-78. 

The  Parousia.  A  Critical  inquiry  into  the  New  Testament 
doctrine  of  our  Lord's  second  Coming.  ]^ondon :  Dally, 
Isbiter  &  Co.     1878. 

Philippi,  Ferd.  Die  Biblische  und  Kirchliche  Lehre  vom 
Antichrist.     Giitersloh  :  C.  Bertelsmann.     1877. 


I.— INDEX  OF  TEXTS   OF  SCRIPTURE. 


Genesis. 
ii.  8  seij 318 

313 

264 

268 

47 

48 

48 

267 


II.  24 

iv.  23 

'\\.iT,seq 

ix.  25-27 

xi.  31 

xii.  14 

xiv 

xi  V.  19,  2o 

XV.  6 317 

xix.  26   311 

xxi.  6,  7 268 

xxii 316 

xxiv.  60 267 

XXV.   23   269 


xxvu.  27  seq . 
xxvii.  39,  40. 


271 
272 


xliv.  18-34 234 


xlviii.  15-20. 
xlviii.^ig  ... 
xlix..* 


269 
270 
280 


Exodus, 

iii.  6  311 

iv.  22 250 

xii.  46 336 

XV 51,  249,  256,  259,  280,  284,  285 

xix 319 

xLx.  5 250 

XX.  13-14 317 

xxiv.  17 316 


Leviticus. 
xix.  18.. . 


317 


vi.  23. 
X.35.. 

XXI    .  .  . 


Numbers. 

269 

367 

285 

XXI.  14 248 

xxi.  17 249 

xxi.  17-18 270 

xxi.  27-30 273 

xyi\\\.  T  seq 279 

xxiii.  18-27 ....  280 

xxiv.  3-9  274 

xxviii.  9-10 309 


Deuteronomy. 

viii.  3 

XXV.  4 

xxy.  5   

xxix.  23,  etc. . 


12 

316 

3" 
188 


Deuteronomy. 

XXX 193 

XXX.  II  seq 316 

xxxi.  21,  22,  etc 188 

xxxii SI,  193,  256,  259,  273.  280,  284 

xxxiii 272,  280 

Joshua. 

\\.%seq 316 

X. 285 

X.  12-13 271 

3c-  13   248 

»'v  234 

Judges. 

^ 249,259,273,  285 

V.  II 66,  249 

"? 234 

3tl.    40 249 

xiv 249 

xiv.  13 249 

xiv.  14-18 286 

XV.  16   286 

xxi.  9 249 

I.  Samueu 

^:.: 234 

xviu.  7     265 

xxi.  1-7 309 

II.  Samuel. 

i.  18 248,349 

!•  19-27 53, 277 

»;!-  33 249 

>»•  33-37 270 

XXII   23 

xxiii.  1-7 274 

I.  Kings. 

|v.  31  249 

>v.  32,  33 248 

X; 249 

XI.  41 227 

xiii.  3 118 

xiv.  19,  29 227 

xvi.  5 227 

xviii 234 

II.  Kings. 

i.  i8 227 

viii.  33 227 

xvii 199 

xviii.  II 60 

XX.  30 227 


490 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


I.  Chronicles. 

xii.  8 370 

xii.  18 271 

xvi 156 

xxix.  29 337 

II.  Chronicles. 

ix.  39 337 

xii.  15 337 

xiii.  33 337 

xvi.  II 227 

xxi V.  27 227 

xxvi.  33,  etc 327 

xxxiii.  18,19 237 

XXXV.  27 337 

NSHEMIAH. 

viii.  8 62,  308 

xi.  33 227 

Job. 

xxviii.  28 29 

xxxi.  1-37 390 

xxxix.  19-25 373 

xlii.  7 196 

Psalms. 

i 189,  381 

ii 189 

it.  1 336 

ij.  I  seq 187 

iii.  I 188 

iv 280 

V:..9 317 

vni 277 

yiii.  a 415 

ix 278 

X 278 

X.  7 317 

XII 278 

xii.  8 118 

xiv 23,  156 

xiv.  1-3 317 

xvi.  8-11 187 

xyiii 23,  156,  256 

xix 282 

xix.  4 316 

xxi.  1-2 260 

xxiii 282 

XXV 278 

XXV.  14 29 

xxxii.  I 317 

xxxii.  1  ieq 187 

xxxi V 278 

xxxvi.  2 317 

xxxvii 378 

xlii 275 

xliii 27s 

xiv 277 

liii 23,  156 

Ixix.  32-23.. '87 

Ixix.  35 187,  31S 

Ixxii.  I 188 

Ixxx   S3<  277 

Ixxxii.  6 309 

Ixxxviii 188 

Ixxxix 188 

xc 51,188,284 

xcii.-c 385 


Psalms. 

xcv.  7 188 

xcv.  8 189 

xcviii.  1 66 

cix.  8 187,  315 

ex.  1 187 

cxi .  _._. 278 

cxviii.  22-23 311 

cxix 278 

cxjx.  97,  103,  127,  160 426 

cxix.  105 411 

cxx  vi 188 

cxxvii 188 

cxxxvii 188 

"1-3 317 

cxlv._. 278 

cxiviii.  7-8 a6o 

Proverbs. 
i.-ix 286 

iij;  34 3'7 

vui.  17  seq 29 

X.  1 260 

X.  i-s 265 

xiii.  24 266 

xvi.  9 266 

xxiii.  IS,  i6 261 

xxiii.  29-35 286,  287 

xxiv.  30-34 288 

XXV.   1 179,217 

xxvii.   22-27 386 

XXX.  15-16 286 

XXX.  24-28 287 

xxxi.  10-30 7 386 

Song  of  Solomon. 
i.  2-ii.  7 i%Zff. 

Isaiah 

I:  9 191 

u 156 

V.  12 249 

vi.  9 191 

vi.  9  seq 191 

ix.  \  seq 191 

X.  22  seq 191 

xi.   10 191 

xxiii.  15  seq 249 

XXV.  8   318 

xxvi.  1-6; 283 

xxviii.  II-I2 317 

xxix.  13 191 

xl.   3 191 

xl.-fxvi 53 

xlii.  1-4 191 

xliv.  28 188 

xiv.   I... 188 

Hi.  13-liii 293 

liii-  I,  4i  7 191 

lix.  7 3'7 

Ix.  3-5 191 

Ixi • 310 

Ixi.   1-2 191 

Ixv.  I  seq 191 

\x\.iTSeq  318 

Jeremiah. 
xxxi.  15 191,  316 


INDEX  OF  TEXTS  OF  SCRIPTURE. 


491 


./ 


EZEKIEL. 

xxxviii.-xxxix. 
Daniel. 


VU.    I 

vii.  Q  stq. 
xi.   31   ... 

xii 

xii.  II 


HosEA. 


1.  lo. . 
ii.  23. 
vi.  6. 
xi.  I. 


Joel. 
ii.  28-32. 


Amos. 
vi.  5. 

MlC.\H. 


Zechariah. 


IV 

xi.  7 

xi.   12-13. 
xiv.  6  seq. 

Malachi. 


M.MTHEW. 

ii.  13-18 

ii.  17 

i"-3 

>v.  4 

iv.  4-10 

iv.  14 

v.  18 

V.  21  seq 

viii.  17. .... .. 

xii.  3  seq 

xii.  17 

xii.  39-41.... 

xiii.  14 

XV.  6 

XV.  7 

XV.  14 

xix.  -iseq 

xix.  7 

xix.  8 

xxi.  42 

xxii.  15-46-  ■  • 
xxii.  23-32. .. 
xxii.  43-45- • 
xxiv.  15 


318 


1S9 
318 
189 
318 
189 


190 
190 
309 
315 


191 
319 


249 


Mark. 

vii.  6 

vii.  10. .  .■ 

xii.  26 

xii-  36,  37 ,-;» 

xvi.  9-20 '""' 

Luke. 


4H 
191 

193 
192 

187 

220 


I.   1-4. 

111.    4. 


IV.    16-22. 
iv.    17.... 

^:J 


156 


424 

1 40 

191,  216-7 
29s 


xiu.  14  seq . . . 

xiv.  25 

XV 

xvi.  29,  31 

xvii.  32 

XX.   42 

XX.  42-44 

xxiv.   27 

xxiv.  44 

xxiv.  44  seq. . 


227 

. ...    191 

310 

....  J91 
. ...  193 
....  310 
....  131 
....  3'o 
....  131 
....  3'i 
169,  188 
....  187 
131,  192 
....  131 
..••   313 


191 


3^5 

191 

191 

12 

309 

191 

13 

312 

191 

309 

J91 

190 

191 

4 

191 

135 

3" 

193 

i8s 

3" 

62 

3" 

. . . .   187,  309 
189 


xxvii.  9 Mil  1691  i9i»  2'° 

Mark. 


John. 
i.  1-14 

i:'^.-.v..v.v.-.-..:.v.v.v.;v.-.v;;-63,3" 

:  ....   iqi 

»•  23 

»:.45-; 

111.  16 

v.  46,  47 

vi.  63 

vii.  17 

vii.  19 

vii.  23 

vii.  38 

viii.  i-ii 

*■^^■■■ 

X-  34-30 

xii.  34 

xii.  38 

xii.  39-41 . . . 

xiii.  7 

xiv.  26 

XV.  3 

XV.  25 

xvi.  8 

xvi.  13 

xvi;  IS 

xvii.  17 

xix.  36 

Acts. 

i.  16-20 

i.2o 

ii.  j6 

ii.  16  seq. . . 
ii.  25-29 

ii.  34 

iii.  22 

iii.  22-24. . . 
iii.  24 


1.  2 

i.  44,  etc. 


191 
193 


iv.  24,  25,26. 

iv.  25 

vii. .  / 

vii.  37 

viii.  28-30. . . 


7t 
72 


...  193 
...  410 
...  193 
...  414 
298,  427 
, . . .  193 
. . . .   192 

427 

. ..  218 
. ...  131 
. ...  3°9 
....  131 
....  191 
....  191 
....  186 
....  69 

414 

....  131 
. . . .  72 

9 

....  28 
....  414 
....  330 


...  187 

...  315 

...  191 

...  319 

...  187 

...  187 

...  193 

...  193 
190,  192 

336 


187,  i88,  192 

141 

193 

»9i 


492 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


Acts. 

xiii.  IS 131 

xiii.  33 189 

XV 320 

xv.ai 192 

xvii.  2 131 

xvit.  n 131 

xviii.  24 131 

xviii.  28 131 

xxvi.  22 ; 131,  193 

xxviii.  23 131,  192 

XX viii.  23 191 

Romans. 

i.  16 411 

iii.  I  ieq 73 

iii.  9-18 317 

iii.  21 408 

iv 320 

iv.'iseq 317 

iv.  6 187 

ix.  as 190 

ix.  27,  29 191 

X.  5,  19 193 

X.  6-10 316 

X.  16 191 

X.  18 316 

X.  20 191 

xi.  9 187 

xii.  6 337 

XV.  12 191 

I.  Corinthians. 

ii.  2 408 

"•  " 337 

iii 320 

ix.  9  ff<7 316 

ix.  14 193 

X-  4 317 

XI.  23  J^y 193 

xiv.  21 131 

xiv.  21  seg 317 

II.  Corinthians. 

iii.  3 428 

iii.  7 316 

iii.  IS 192 

iii.  18 13 

Galatians. 

ii 320 

iv.  23  seq '. . . .     73,  140 

iv.  22,  23,  24 336 

iv.  24 317 

Ephesians. 

v.  25 428 

Philippians. 

iii.  2 7 

COLOSSIANS. 

".3 413 

iL  8 4 

».  17 244.320 

I,  TfMOTHV. 

>» ^ 3*0 


II.  Timothy. 

iii.  8 316 

'"•  IS i3»i4" 

Titus. 

ii.  1 1 406 

ii.  11-14 41^ 

Hebrews. 

1-3 13 

IV 317 

IV.  7 188,  192 

iv.  12 411 

.vii 318 

vii.  14 193 

viii.  5 I93>  244 

viii.  lo-ii 428 

ix.   19 193 

X.  1 244 

X.  I  seq 320 

X.  28 193 

xi ■ 316 

xi.  40 244 

xii.  21 193 

Ja-mes. 
ii 320 

ii-  7-13 3'7 

ii.  21  seq 316 

v.  11 316 

v.  17 316 

I.  Peter. 

i.  23 13,  4".  413 

ii.  9  seg ; 319 

II.  Peter. 

i.  21 27 

ii.  4  seg 316 

I.  John. 
v.  7 218 

JUDE. 

9  J'7 316 

14 »9a 

Revelation. 

ii 320 

xii.  I  seg 318 

xii.  6 318 

xiii.  5 318 

xiij.  18 ■. 318 

xvi.  12 318 

xvi.  i6 318 

xvii.   5 318 

xviii.  2 318 

xxi.-xxii 318 

xxii.  18-19 6 


I.  ESDRAS. 


IV 

iv.  33-41. 


'3? 
58 


n.—INDEX   OF  TOPICS. 


Accents 152,231 

in  Hebrew  verse  and  prose 263 

place  of 153-3 

System  ofPolish  and  German  Jews  258 

Accommodation,  Principle  of 185,312 

Acts 73,  230 

Akkadian  language 47 

Hymns 262 

Allegorical  method   317 

Jesus'  use  of 3'° 

m  the  Latin  Church 324^- 

Orieen  the  father  of 322 

of  Philo 306 

Truth  and  failure  of 307 

Allegory    ...    ; ■ 305 

Allegory  not  unbecoming  to  J esus 318 

Alliteration 256 

Aloesa   93 

Alphabet...; 53 

Amoraim 177 

Anonyraes   222 

Anthropology... 7' 

Anthropomorphism   54 

Anlioch,  School  of 325 

Antwerp  polyglot i43 

Apocalypse 70,  109,  iii,  165,  226 

Apocalypse  of  Ezra 127,129 

Apocalypses,  Jewish  apocryphal.   109,224 

Apocrypha 6i,     70 

Apostles' creed   92 

Apostolic  church.  Elements  of 320 

Appropriation    of    the   Grace   of    the 

Scriptures 4^7 

Appropriation  of  the  Word  of  God —  297 

Arabic  language   18,19,46,50 

Aramaic  language ■  .,•  •     5° 

'•  character  and   his- 

tory  59^- 

written  character 133 

Aramaisms    284 

Archaisms,  Poetic   284 

Archaeology,  Sacred 17 

Arminianism "3 

Ascension  of  Isaiah ,  ■  224 

Ashtoreth 49 

Assonance 'S^ 

A.ssuraption  of  Moses 224 

Assyria  and  Babylonia,  monuments  of  284 
Assyrian  language   18,19,46,48 

Hymns 202 

Authenticity 87,93 

of  the  Scriptures. 220^. 

Questions  which  arise 220 

Authority  of  the  Bible no,  219/,  243 


Baal. 


49 


Babylonia 47 

Babylonian  hymns 262 

language 46,     48 

vowel  system 152 

Bagdad 304 

Baptism 243 

Basle,  University  of 144 

Bassora 304 

Bfraitha   174,177 

Bethhoron 271 

Bible...         ...     75,99,245,248,363,417 

and  criticism 75 

Forms  and  meaning 6 

German,  of  Luther 50 

Literary  study  of 214 

material  for  all  ages 37 

Text  of 139^- 

Traditional  views  of 95 

Use  of 4 

Version  of  King  James .so 

Biblical  Books,  View  of  Du  Pin 201 

Study,  attractive 3 

"      extensive 1 

"      important x 

"      profound 2 

"      Renewed  attention  to 212 

Book  of  Jubilees 13S 

Book  of  the  wars  of  Jahveh 248 

Cook  of  Yashar  248 

Cabalistic  Syste.m 303 

Cairo 304 

Calixtus,  School  of 373 

Calvinistic  orthodoxy 113 

Cambridge  men 134 

Platonists 373 

Canon  of  Scripture 21,  105 

Augustinian 106 

Hellenistic 106 

Hieronymian 106 

Italic  132 

Jewish 13° 

Josephus' 180 

Puritan 114 

of  the  Reformers 106 

Syriac 132 

criticism  of 125 

determination  of 21 

extent  of no 

of  the  New  Testament 132 

"     "    Old  •'         127 

— —  O.  T.  not  determined  by  N.  T...   131 

not  determined' by  consensus..  ..     2t 

Principles    for  determination    of 

107,  136 
Results  of  criticism  of 132 

(493) 


494 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


Canonics,  Biblical 21,     78 

Sacred .■•••: *7 

Canonicicy  not  a  purely  historical  ques- 
tion    125 

Carthage,  Council  of 105 

Chaldee,  Biblical 18,  46,  60 

Chemosh 49 

Christ  the  centre  of  Scripture  364 

Person  of •..   ..     7'i  4'° 

Chronicles.  ..50,  128,  129,  187,  197,  198, 

222,  227,  230 

Citation    .._. 89 

Errors  in 85 

of  O.  T.,  in  N.  T 131 

Compilations 226 

Conception,  Differences  of. .... ..     88,     94 

Constraint  of  symbol  and  Scripture. . .     98 

Construct  relation   53 

Council  of  Trent 331 

Coven  an  ts _ 402 

Apostles'  use  and  view  of 3T9 

Theology  of 343 

Credibility 87 

of  the  Scriptures. 240 

— —  distinguished  from  infallibility. ..  241 

Creed,  Docirine  of  the 243 

Critical  conflicts 102 

Evangelical,  test no 

theories,  Recent 102 

Criticism,  in  general 77.^. 

Bible  and  liff- 

Biblical       _ 78,82,94,139 

-  "      Historic  right  of loi 

"      necessity  of. .    .  . ._ 76 

has  been  largely  destructive 81 

Distinction  bery»een   Higher  and 

Lower 78 

1  )ivisions  of 82 

Evangelical 104,  172 

Higher.  .21,  24,  78,  86,  164  ffy  204,  420 

"     attractive _. ..   246 

"    and  the  authority  of  Script- 

ure    243 

"    and     the     credibility     of 

Scripture _. . . .  244 

"     Illustrations  of  its  princi- 

ples  92  y. 

"     Importance  of 92 

"     in  America. 210/". 

"  in  Great  Britain... .   206,209/^ 

"  in  the  XVI.-XVII.  Cent.  1657: 

"        "      XIX.  Cent :•.  207/: 

. '■  notdeterminedby  tradition  196 

"     Prejudice  against 212,246 

"     Principles  of 170 

"  Questions  to  be  determined 

by 87,212 

"    Rise  of... 196 

"     Three  stadia  of 207-8 

"     Unfolding  in  Germany,  etc  212 

Historical 82^.,  198 

Literary 82,85 

Lower,  vid.  — — Tejttual. 

a  t>riori  objections.. 99 

Objections  to  application  to  the 

Bible 95 

Principles  and  methods 82 

Textual  or  Lower,  .ai,  22,  78,  246,  420 

-  "      and  Inspiration   is6^. 

■ "      of  O.  T.  behind  that  of  N. 

T 150 


Criticism,   Textual,  of  XVI.,  XVII., 

XVIII.,  XIX.  Cent..   140-8 

Textual,  icope  of 23 

The  true 163 

Daniel.. so,  60,  128,  129,  187,  197,  218,  224 

Decalogue 243 

Deism 206,  222 

Deuteronomic  code 386 

Deuteronomy 51,  167,  194,  224,  234 

Dialogues  of  the  ancient  worthies 233 

Dirge.  The 285 

Distich 264 

Distinction  between  poetry  and  prose 

slight 251 

Documentary  theory 200,  202^.,  207 

Documents,  Genesis  of  the 208 

Dogmatics,  Biblical 392 

Dogmatic  method 194 

Ebionites 320 

Ecclesiasles..26,  50,  109,  in.  128,  129, 

it>5,  167,  187,  224,  286 

Ecclesiasticus 131 

Edessa,  School  of 304,  326 

Syrian  school  at  152 

Editing  and  interpolating  of  Scripture  219 

Editorship. . . .  _ 178 

Efficacy  of  Scripture 4'6 

Egypt • 48 

Eloquence,  Biblical  models  of. 234 

Epistles  of  the  apostles  as  models 237 

Epistles  as  prose  literature 236 

Errors  in  the  original  autographs 242 

Errors  in  the  present  text 240 

Essenes 129,  300,  302,  307 

Esther.  .109,  in,  128, 129, 187, 197,  218, 

222,  238 

Ethics 395i403 

Ethiopic  language 18,  19,  46 

Evangelical  spirit 37^ 

Evidence,  External 9° 

Internal 88y. 

Exegesis,  Biblical ;••.■••     ^/i  421 

**      general  principles. ..     27 

Comparative 3^ 

1-  Doctrinal 33 

Four  kinds  of  Augustine 324 

Grammatical 29 

Historical 30 

History  of aS 

Literary 32 

Logical  and  rhetorical 30 

The  proper  method  of 194 

Synthetic  method 14 

of  the  middle  age 328 

in  the  Oriental  church 328 

Practical 34 

Process  of I '» 

Proper  spirit  of 16 

Exegete,  The  work  of 28,    35 

How  far  influenced  by  history. . .  360 

Exodus 48 

Ezekiel 128,129,190 

Ezra 60,  129,  187,  IQ7,  222,  230,  2^ 

tzra.  Restoration  of  O.  T.  by liiff. 

Faith,  Appropriating — 423 

Practicing 42* 

Fiction  in  the  Bible 938 /• 

Fidetdivina xo8, 123,906 


INDEX  OF  TOPICS. 


495 


Fides  divina  and  humana ii6 

Figures  of  speech 253 

Forgeiy,  Theory  of aaa 

Foi  ms,  Poetic 283 

Fragmentary  Hypothesis,  The 207 

Gemara 174,  180 

Genesis.  R.  C.  support  of  documentary 

theory 202 

Geneva,  Univeisity  of 144 

German   theology   135 

Germany 346 

God,  Hebrew  conception  of 53 

Gospel  in  the  Scriptures 407 

Gospels,  The _ 230 

Grace  of  God  in  the  Scriptures 410 

Greek  language 60,  63  ff. 

''        beautiful  and  finished.     66 

"         characteristics  of. 64 

-  "        complex  and  artistic.     64 

"         form    and    style    of 

speech 6s 

"        strength  and  vigor. .     66_/". 

Biblical 69 

Hellenistic 18 

of  the  New  Testament 353 

N.  T.  writers  used 69 

Haggada...    62,  73,  238,  300,  304,  310,  315 

Hagiocrapha ^^1  .ff- 

Halacha 62,  73,  174,  3cx>,  304,  316 

method  of  Jesus 309 

Halacha  and  Haggada,  Principles  of. .   301 
Hebrew  Grammar 29 

"         Thefirst 107 

History 56 

Language 18,  46,  48,  49,  60,  71,  107 

religious 50 

"        correspondence  to 

thought 52 

"        life  and  fervor 56 

"  majesty  and  sublimity..  53 

"         simple  and  natural 51 

"        characteristics 51 

"        and  the  cognates \i/. 

"  culture,  BaDylontan  ori- 

gin      48 

Letters,  forms  used 153 

Literature    different   from    Indo- 

Germanic     215 

Poetic  art,  Climax  of 294 

P°«"T 52155.56,150,248^. 

Text 151 

"    Thepresent 153 

Hebrews,  The 250 

a  literary  and  poetic  people 248 

Epistle  to. . .  .26,  70,  165,  166,  167, 

222,  237,  316,  317 
Hellenistic  and  Christian  theories.    I'ioff. 

Hermeneutics,  Biblical ; .  . .     27 

Hermeneutical  principles,  Lutheran. .   333 

Herodians 60 

Hexastich 271 

Himjaric  language 46 

History,  Hebrew 56 

Two  kinds,  priestly,  prophetic. ..  230 

Sources  of 84 

Holy  Spirit,  the  interpreter  of  Script- 
ure     365 

Hosea 190,23s 

Huguenots,  French 371 


Humanists 331 

Hymn,  The 284 

Inconsistencies,  The  supposed,  of  the 

Bible 244 

Independents 134 

Inductive  method  in  Biblical  Study. ..     76 

Inerrancy  of  Scripture 240^". 

Inflection,  Method  of  Hebrew 52,   57 

Inspiration    220,  41 1 

Church  doctrine     99,243 

Dogmatic 97 

not  confined  to  particular  words.  158 

Plenary 241 

Scriptural  doctrine   96 

Symbolical       '"  96,242 

Textual  Criticism  and     156.^. 

Traditional  doctrine ico 

Various  theories <^  ff- 

Verbal   76,113,144,156    241 

Integrity 87,     92 

of  the  Scriptures 216 

Interpolations  in  the  Pentateuch 218 

in  the  New  Testament 218 

in  the  Septuagint 218 

Interpretation  of  Scripture 296^. 

IVIethod  of 351 

History  of  Biblical 299 

Literature  of .   300 

Requisites  to  proper 2i4y. 

True  Christian  method 320 

Jesns  gave  oo  rules  of 315 

Comparative 358 

Doctrinal 36 1 

of  the  Fathers  and  Schoolmen  yioff. 

General 297 

Grammatical 352 

Hellenistic 305,321 

Historical 357 

Logical  and  Rhetorical ZSiff- 

Pietistic 344 

Practical 308,  362 

Puritan 340 

Puritan  and  Arminian 335 

Rabbinical 299 

of  the  Reformers yi^  ff- 

Roman  Catholic 331,  360 

in  the  New  Testament JPl  ff- 

of  the  middle  age 330 

of  modem  times 346 

of  XVII.  Cent,  in  England 338 

Palestinian  methods 320 

Principles  of  Antiochian  School. .   326 

"  "  Cabalistic 303 

"  "  Puritan 344 

"         "  Schleiermacher 349 

"  "  Westminster  Confes- 

sion    337 

Organic  method 350 

methods  of  apostles 315 

Rules  of  Rabbinical 300 

Seven  Rules  of  Tychonius 323 

Features  of  our  Saviour's 311 

Defects  of  ancient  and  medizval.   352 

"       "  grammalico-historical.   348 

Introduction,  Biblical 76 

Home's   309 

First  extant,  by  Junilius 183 

Isaiah 190,  191,  218,  ris,  278 

Jahveh 54,    71 


496 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


James,  Epistle 70,  109,  237 

Jam  nia,  Assembly  at 105   130 

Jeremiah 190,  igi,  217,  218 

Jesus  Christ,  Authority  of 186 
ews 67 

Job,  Book  of...     26,  128.  129,  168,  198, 

222,  249,  253,  257,  258,  288 

Joel,     "       "   190 
ohn,  Epi.stles 73.  237 

Gospel 70,  225 

Jonah       190,222,238 

Joshua 190,  207,  222 
ude 109,  237 

Judges 190,222 

Judith   62 

Justification  by  faith 406 

Kings,  Books  of 190,  198,  222,  226 

Koran 50,  151 

Language 42 

Connection  between  thought  and    42 

) Poetic 283  /. 

I of  our  Saviour  61 

Languages  of  the  Bible     i3,  \i  ff. 

Lamentations 128,222,258,278,286 

Laodicea,  Council  of IC5 

Legend 23 1 

preferable  to  term,  myth 232 

Legends  and  fables,  N.  T.  use  of  ....   316 

Leyden,  University  of  . . 144 

Literal  interpretation  of  Jesus 309 

sense  excluded.  Rules  of  Philo.. .   305 

Literature,  Biblical 16 

"        Field  of 20 

"        History  of 76 

"        Problems  of 216 

Hebrew 56 

"      Divisions  into  poetry  and 

prose 229 

Literary  features  87 

study  of  the  Bible  is  Higher  Crit- 
icism    215,  246 

usage.  The  common 195 

London  Polyglot..... 143 

Lord's  Prayer 243 

Supper 243 

Luke,  Gospel 70 

Luther 50 

Lutheranism 113 

Maccabees,  Book  of 238 

Maccabeus,  Judas  130 

Malachi 223,  236 

Man,  Hebrew  conception  of 54 

Mandaic  language 46 

Jiark,  Gospel   70,  227 

Massoretic system. 24,  57,  105,  140,  142, 

257.  239 

te.xt.. 148^.,  150,  154 

tradition 19 

Mas.sorites 141,  145,  178 

Matthew,  Gospel   70,227 

Measures  of  time,  etc 49 

Mesopotamia 47 

Messana 93 

Methodi.sm 372 

Metres 256 

Micah 33s 


Midrash 158 

method 308 

Minor  Prophets 216 

Mishna 130,  142,  174,  300 

Modern  training  and  oriental  thought.  230 

Moloch 49 

Moravians 373 

Mosaic  code igg 

Moses,  represented  as  lawgiver,  not  as 

author 19J 

Mystic 119,  173 

spirit 368 

Mysticism ivijf. 

Myth,  term  associated  with  polytheism  233 
Myths  of  Assyria  and  Bab> Ionia 232 

Nature,  Hebrew  conception  of. .     S4i  ^54 
Nehemiah.    128,  187,  197,  222,  230,  236,  237 

I  Nezikin 173 

Nisibis,  School  of 304,  326 

Intluence  of 327 

Opinion   and   conception.  Differences 

of 88,  94 

Oration  in  the  Bible 234 

Palestinian  vowel  system 152 

Parallelism 49,  52,  203,  259,  261,  264 

Introverted 261 

ordinarily  progressive 266 

not  prediction 315 

Paris  polyglot  143 

Patmos 230 

Paul,  Epistles 70,73,237 

Pauline  Epistles,  Authenticity 226 

Pentastich 270 

Pentateuch. 24,  25,  49,  50,  129, 165,  181, 
192,  197,  199,  200,  207,  210, 

222,  227,  230,  232,  3S6 

Investigation  byEichhorn C04 

Theory  of  R.  Simeon 198 

Three  codes 387 

Pentecost 73 

Person  of  Jesus  Christ 71,  410 

Peshat,  or  literal  interpretation..   300, 

„     .  .  3031  304 

Peshitto 23 

Peter,  Epistles 7°!  73i  109.  1661  237 

Phalaris,  Epistles  of 93 

Pharisees 61,  129,  130,  299,  310 

Philo.  Logos  of 71 

Philolo^,  Sacred   17 

Phoenician  language. ...     18,  19,  46,  48,  60 

Pietism,  German 372 

Pietists,  German  344 

Plato,  Nous  of 7t 

Platonic  Philosophy 305 

Play  of  Words 256 

Plural   of  intensity 52 

Poetic  forms 283 

Poetry,  Arabic 255 y^,  262 

of  Assyria  and  Egypt 248 

of  the  Bible 229 

Composite 288 

Gnomic   285 

Hebrew 52,  55,  s6,  15°.  248^. 

"        Apprehension  of 253 

"         Breadth  of 249 

"        Characteristics 250,  255 

"        Composed  of  verses 219 


INDEX  OF  TOPICS. 


497 


28s 

"7 

134 
134 

86 

124 

s 
234 


Poetry,  Hebrew,  External  form  subor- 
''  dinated  to  internal 

emotion 'S") 

"        Forms  of aJS 

"  "    Lyric,  Gnomic, 

Composite 284 

.  "         Measurement        ^  ^     — 

words  or  accent  279^. 
"         Parallelism  of  mem- 
bers, 49,  52,  203,  259.     , 
261,  264 

"         Realistic 253 

"         Religious 250 

"         Sententious 253 

"         Subjective 253 

Lyric 284 

Prophetic... •   ^ 

Syriac 258,262 

Polyglots ••■   1*1 

Prayer 4",  4^2 

Prayers  of  the  Bible 

Prelatists 

Presbyterians 

Scotch .■••■••,"     J 

Principles  for  detemjination  of  read- 
ings  ■ 

Private  judgment.  Right  of 

Proof  texts.  Indiscriminate  use  of. 

Prophetical  books - 

Prophets '9°-/- 

Prose  of  the  Bible     230 

Characteristics  of  Scripture 239 

Historical 230 

Protestant  critical  principle 142^- 

- —  position.  The  true m 

Protestantism,  Formal  principle  of.  13, 

108,  407 
Proverbs. 26,  128, 129,  169,  187, 197,  217, 

252,  258,  205/.,  28J 
Psalms,  or  Psalter. 24,  25,  5^,  '66,  168, 

its7,  197,  217.  222,  252,  256,  257,  258 

Psalter.  Davidic  authorship 187 

of  Solomon 224 

Pseudonyme,  Use  of 223 

Pseudonymes 223 

among  the  Jews 224 

in  Puritan  literature 224 

Ptolemaeus  Philadelphus 126 

Puritanism loi,  335 

Puritans Ii7i  "8,  134,  371 

Puritan  Theology '47 

Qarites 3°3 

R\BBiNic\i.ideas  of  Scripture,  Errors 

of    302 

Theories i73 

Rationalism 222 

Realism  in  the  Hebrew  language.    ...      54 

Redactio'i  of  the  O.  T.  Scriptures 179 

Redemption  by  grace  alone 406 

Reformation,  The i7'i  33i 

Formal  principle  of  the  Protest- 
ant      13,108,407 

Merit  of  the  British 409 

"         "        Calvinistic 408 

"         "        Lutheran     408 

Protestant,  a  critical  revival 106 

Preparation  for. .  . 330 

Reformers.Principles  for  determination 

of  Canon  used  by 107 


Refrain,  The • ,  53'  »7S 

Religion,  Biblical,  Development  of  the  ao8 
Revision,  Demand  for »°3 

Ste.-.;;v.v-;:::::;:::::::::::| 

Rome,  Church  of^.  .■....■■■■■■■■■■  ■   '"^ 
Rule  of  Faith.  Defined  by  John  Ball..  3^0 

"       "         of  the  Puritans 3JS 

>i       "  "       Reformers 333 

Ruth .28,187,222 

Sabb.\th r-   ^ 

Sadducees „^  '»9 

Samaritan  language.    18,  19^  4° 

Samaritans '^^ 

Samuel 19°.  I94.  222,  230 

Scenery  of  the  text jl 

Scholastic  spirit 3"9 

Scholasticism 99 

Science.  Opposition  to 7 

Scripture,  Authority  of 25 

Fourfold  sense 322 

Literary  forms  of 228 

Text  of "'"' 

Scriptures,  The 


i6a 

fundamental  position  of ^3 

as  literary  productions 214 

as  means  of  grace V*> 

as  sources ■ *' 

Human  elements  in  the ^33 

Sedan,  University  of ^44 

Selah  in  the  Psalter 

Septuagint. .  .68,  70,  105,  125,  140.  i53. 


278 


155. 


305,  321 
. . ..   120 


A  Greek  Targum 

Shemitic  lar^uages 

Shulamite,  The 

Sibyline  oracles. •  ■ 

Silence.  Argument  from 9°yt 

Sirach,  Wisdom  of 

Sodh  method 300.302, 

Sohar,  Book  of 302 

Solomon,  Wisdom  of 7^ 

Song,  The „ 

Song  of  Songs.... 26,  109,  m,  "8,  129^, 


46 
239 
109 

94 

71 

305 


285 


187,  239,  238,  278,  286 

Sources  of  Biblical  bistory 231 

Speculative  spirit 

Spiritual  sense 

Strophe.  The..  ■•■••••;;•■. 

marked  by  the  alphabet 

Style.  Differences  of <»• 

Poetic ;  ■  •, 

Subscription  of  Protestant  symboU. . . 

SuflSxes,  Hebrew 

Symbol 

Synonyms,  Hebrew a",,S 

Syriac  language »»,  i9» 

vowel  system 

Talmud 105,  107,  i3°.  M '^-^ 4^  ^^ 

Talmuds,  Babylonian  and  Jerusalem..   173 

Tanaites I' 

Targums ^ 

Taurominium •  •  V     "" 

Testament,  New     •    '36,243 

"     Canon  of ^°° 

"     Citations  of  the iSS 

Literary  development 
of 73 


-  369 
•     34 

-  272 
273 

93 
283 
10 1 

53 
99 
55 
46 
152 


498 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


Testament,  New,  Use  of  the  Old 308 

*'      Variety  in  writings.     70 

"      Writers 68 

Old 243 

"     Canon  of 105 

"     Citation  in 308 

"     New  Testament  view  of..  184,^. 

Relation  of  Old  and  New ....     39,  350 

Testaments  of  the  Twelv-e  Patriarchs.   324 

Testimony,  Positive 90 

Tetrastich 269 

Text,  Differences  of 155 

of  the  Bible ^Viff- 

of  the  Old  Testament xc,\  ff. 

of  Scripture 112 

So  urces  of  error  In 85 

Transmission  of 22 

Theology' 420 

American 135 

British 135 

Biblical 17,  367 

"        Belongs     to     Exegetical 

Theology 379 

"        Culmination  of  Exegeti- 

cal Theology 397 

"        Development   of 377 

"         Historical  principle  of. ..   375 

"         Idea  of 390 

"        Method  of 399 

"        Methods  and  aims 37 

"        Place  of 397 

"        Position  and  importance 

of- 390 

"         Presents  the  Biblical  sys- 

tem of  doctrine 39 

"        Problem  of 400 

"         Rise  of '74 

"        System  and  divisions  of.  401 

"         Term  is  broad 392 

"        Traces  historical  forma- 

tion     396 

Exegetical,  a  science 15 

"  Divisions  and  subdi- 

visions      16 

"  Methods izff. 

-  "  "        analytic 15 

"  "        historical....     14 

"  "        synthetic...     14 

"  Neglect  of 12 

"  The     primary    disci- 

pline       10 

"  Work  of II 

■ Federal 343 

Four  types  of 367 

Historical 10 


Theology,  Practical 10 

Systematic 10,  394 

Theophanies 296 

Thirty-nine  articles ^^Ij- 

Tihenan  vowel  system 152 

Titles  of  Biblical  Books 221 

Titus 130 

Tobit 62,  238 

Toseptkn 174,  177 

Tradition 99,  220,  222 

Traditional  theories.  Criticism  of 170 

"         Scholastic      de- 

fence of 200 

Traditionalism 99 

Translation 43 

Process  of 157 

Sources  of  error  in 85 

Trent,  Council  of 109  y. 

Trinity 71 

Tristich 267 

Tubingen  school 208 

Union  Theological  Seminary 20 

Unity  in  the  Scriptures 359 

of  statement  of  the  Scriptures....  244 

Ur  of  the  Chaldees. ., 47 

Verse 255 

Hebrew,  its  essential  principle...  260 

"         Measurement  by  the  ac- 

cent    262 

"         Synonymous,  antitheti- 

cal, synthetic 260 

Versions 23,  153 

Vowel  points  and  accents. 24,  139,  144, 

151-  156 
Vulgate 23,  105,  112,  166 

Westtminster  Assembly 409 

Divines 117,  134 

Standards 25 

Wisdom,  Book  of 62 

of  Sirach 131 

of  Solomon 71 

Writings,  Historic  position  of 88 

Individual 21 

Order  of 177 

Zaudb 93 

Zechariah _ 216 

Integrity  disputed 217 

Zelots 129,  300,  302,  307 

Zohar,  Book 142 

Zurich  Consensus 135,  144 

University  of 144 


III.— INDEX  OF  BOOKS  AND  AUTHORS. 


Abbot,  Ezra 225,447 

Aboth 127 

Acha 127 

Achelis,  E   463 

Adams,  Th 467 

Wm 66,  445 

Adeney,  W.  F  452 

iEneid   294 

iEschincs   64 

^schylus 64 

Aglen,  A.  S 233 

Aids  to  Fai:h 211 

Ainsworth,  Henry   339^  344.  454 

Airay,  Henry 465 

Akiba,  Rabbi m,  130,  154,  174 

AlcsEus 256 

Alcala,  Alphonsode 106 

Alcuin 32f) 

Aldridge,  S.  R     .    .    452 

Alexander,  Addison 210 

J.  A     435,458,462,463 

Wra   452 

W.  1 452 

Alford,  Henry 461 

Alexandrinus,  Codex 438 

Amana.Sixt.. 146 

Ambrose 221,323 

American  Presby.  Review  14,     29 

Ames,  Wm. 343,355.372,373 

Amira 142 

Ammon,  C.  F 374 

Andrews,  S.  J 478 

Angus,  Joseph 460 

Antwerp  I'olyglot i47 

Apocrypha 474 

Aquila   154,303 

Aquinas,  Thomas 329,463 

Arias  Montanus 143 

Aristeas 126 

Aristion 321 

Arminius,  J 373 

Arnold,  F.  A.. 434 

Asarias.  Rabbi 260 

Ascensio  Isaiae 476 

Ashe,  Simeon 342 

Assembly's  Annotations i6i 

Astruc,  J 169,  202,  204 

Athanasius ,  .. .   220,  356 

Aitersol,  Wm 344 

Atwater,  E.  E 482 

Auberlen,  C.  A  . ._ 431 

Augustine,  Aurelius.182,  220,  323,  324, 

32s.  425.  451 

Baba  Bathra  (Talm.  Babli) . .   105,  173 

175,  216,  217,  218,  221,  227 


Babylonicus  Petrop.,  Codex 439 

Bachman,  J. 455 

Bacon,  Francis 221 

Baedeker,  Karl 468 

Baehr,  K.  C.  W.  F 449.  483 

Baer,  S 149,  439 

Ball,  John 336,  342.  343 

Barbier,  A.  A 223 

I'ar  Cappara 174 

Baring-Gould,  S 477 

Bar  Khokba 130 

Barker,  P.  C 452 

Barlow,  John 466 

Barnabas 322 

Baruch  Apocalypsis 476 

Buch 475 

Basil 182 

Bassett,  F.  T 467 

Baudissen,  W 481 

Baumgarten,  A.  G 374,  481 

Banmgarten-Crusius,  L.  F.  0 376 

Baur.  F.  C.   377,  381,  382,  384,  387,  395, 

486,  487 

Lorenzo 375,  376 

Baxter,  Richard 147,  155,  243 

Bay ne,  Paul 344,  465 

Beck,  CD 347 

J.T.. 481 

Beda  Vencrabilis 329 

Beecher,  Willis  J 83,  104 

Beet,  J.  A ._ 464 

Belgian  Confession 108,  167 

Bellarmine,  R 182 

Bengel,  J.  A 149,  344.  372,  461 

Bentley,  Richard 93,  148,  169 

Berger,  Samuel   i-7 

Bernard.  T.  D 298,  385,  486 

Bertheau,  E    57,203,450,453 

Beyschlag,  W .-   461 

Beza,  T 33^ 

Bible,  Bomberg's  Rabbinical 139 

Holy 43S 

Bible  for  Learners 2n 

Biblia  Hebraica.... 439 

Bibliothcca  Rabbinica 62 

Sacra 211,  218 

Bickell.G 153,258,  432,  445 

Bickersteth,  E 452 

Biddle,! 373 

Binnie,  W 446,  452 

Bissell.  E.  C 450,475 

Blake,  Thomas    342 

Bleek,  Fr. . .     69,  73,  208,  350,  444,  446,  466 

Boderianus,  Fabricius I43 

Boehl,  Edw   155.444 

Boettcher,  Fr. . .     55.  57.  431,  454,  457,  483 
(409) 


500 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


Bonnet,  Max 477 

Boyle,  Robt i6q,  412,  419 

Braune,  K 449,  450,  451 

Brentius,  J 146 

Bretschneider,  K.  C 348,  485 

Briggs,  C.  A....     14,29,104,153,1711 

208,  209,  228,  387 

Brightman,  Th 343,  467 

Brit,  and  For.  Evang.  Rev 25 

British  Quarterly 25 1 

Broughton,  Hugh  142,344 

Brown ,  D 460 

Francis 187,  189 

Browne,  E.  H 451 

Bruce,  A.  B 236,  246,  389,  462,  486 

Briider,  A.  v.  H 442 

Brugsch  Bey,  H 472 

Bruston,  Charles 446 

Budge,  E.  A 473 

BuUinger,  Henry 333 

Bullock,  W.  T 451 

Bunsen,  C.  C.  J 210 

Burroughs,  Jer 459 

Burton,  Ricn.  F 470 

Bush,  G 455 

Butler,  J.  G 460 

Biittmann,  A 436 

Buxtorf,  J.    113,  144,  156,  170,  184,  353, 

439,  442 
Byfield,  Nicholas 344,  465 

Cairns,  John 163 

Calamy,  Edmund m,  147,  223 

Calixtus,  George 113,  373 

Calmet,A 200 

Calvin,  John...    107,  112,  133,  140,  146, 
16s,  166,  217,  223,  333, 

^       „.  ,    „   .  334.  37J.4S4,  455. 4'5i 

Candlish,  Rob 467 

Canus,  Melchoir 167 

Capel,  Richard 158 

Cappellus,  Lud..86,  142,  T43,  144,  147, 

^     ,         ,  ,  '64,  170,  184,  334,  342 

Lud.  and  Jac 146 

Carlov,  A.  C 113 

Carlstadt,  And i6g 

Carpzov,  J.  G   184,200,297,334 

Cartwnght,  Thomas.  114,  167,  335,  343,  344 

Caryl,  Joseph   344 

Casaubon.  I   ....    146,168 

Caspari,  C.  E _ 478 

Cassel,  Paulus 449 

Cassiodorus 327 

Castell,  Edm X43i  353.  432 

Catafalgo,  J  434 

Cave,  Alf 452,  480 

Cereani,  A.M     440 

Chamber?,  T.  W 387,  450 

Chapman,  C 452 

Charteris,  A.  H   106,110,132,437 

Cheyne,  T.  K 218,  458 

Chiarini,  L.  A »7S,  301,  303.  485 

Chija-Rabbi 174 

Chrysostom,  J 182,  326,  329,  461 

Cicero,  M.  T 224,  236 

Letters  of 237 

Clark,  Samuel 344,  451 

Clarkson,  W 4^2 

Clemance,  C 452 

Clement  of  Alexandria 182,  322 

of  Rome 323 


Clementine  Pseudograph 321 

Clericus,  J    184,199,345 

Cobb,  W.  H 218 

Cocceius,  J..    143.342,  343.  35°,  372 

Colenso,  J.  W 210,  21X 

Collins,  R • 452 

Complutensian  Polyglot 106,  147 

Conant,  J.  T 450 

Conder,  C.  R 469 

F.  R 470 

Contemporary  Review an 

Conybeare,  W.  J 479 

Cook,  F.  C 451 

Cooper,  B.  H 477 

r-.W.R. 474 

Cosin,  John 117,437 

Cotterill,  H 452 

Cotton,  John 467 

Cowper,  B.  H 432 

Cox,  Samuel 456 

Credner,  C.  A 437 

Cremer,  H 73,  436 

Critici  sacri 453 

Crosby,  Howard 449 

Cross,  J.  A ai8,  444 

Cruden,  Alex 429,  44: 

Curry,  G 451 

Curtius,  E 64,  6s,  66,  67,  476 

G 436 

Curtiss,  S.  I.,  Jr 18,  130,  216,  217 

Cyprian 321 

Daehne,  a.  F 388 

Dale,  B ^ 452 

Davenant,  J 344 

Davidson,  A.  B 430,  455,  457 

H   442 

Samuel. 86,  lo^,  150,  2x0,  320,  324, 

330,  432,  437,  442,  444,  446,  448 

Davies,  D 452 

Day,  G.  E  380 

Deane,  W.  J 126,475 

De  Dieu,  L '4^,334 

Delitzsch,   Franz...    149,217,218,224, 

350,  4.'}9,  454,  466,  480 

Fried     60,435,469 

Demarest,  J.  T 467 

Demosthenes 64,236 

DeRossi,J.  B 149,443 

Descartes,  R 7 

Deutsch,  Emanuel    ..    174 

De  Wette,  W.  M.  L.207.  210,  229,  350, 

375,  376,  377,  444,  446,  461.  471 
Piestel,  Lud. 28,  165,  325,  326,  401,  430,  453 
Dillmann,  Aug.,152,  153,  155,  156,  230, 

.      .  434,  438,  453,  475,  47^ 

Dinwiddle,  W 452 

Diodorus  of  Tarsus 326 

Doddridge,  Philip 345 

Dods,  Marcus 460 

Dodwell,  Henry .•  134 

Doepke,  J.  C.  C 448 

Dollinger,  J.  J.  1 477 

Donaldson,  J.  W 65 

Dorner,  Isaac  A... 22,  70,  108,  114,  137, 

203,  3«4,  323,  424 

August 32s 

Doxy,  R 434 

Drake,W 451 

Driver.  S.  R 431,  458 

Droysen,  J.  G 84 


INDEX  OF  BOOKS  AND  AUTHORS. 


501 


Drummond,  James  •  485 

Drusius.J 146,33  + 

Ducas,  Demetrius  i°° 

Dneslerdiek,  F 461 

Dunker,  Max   473 

Du  Pin,  L.  E 87,  88,  93,  200,  217 

Durham,  James 457,  4o8 

Dury,  John     37^ 

Dykes.J.O 460 

Eadie,  John 444,  465 

Eastlake,  E •  •   479 

Ebers,  G   469,472 

Ebrard,  J.  H.  A 447,  467 

Eck,  J    '°7 

Edereheim,  A 483 

Edgar,  McCheyne   452 

R.  M 452 

Eichhorn,  J.  CnS,  129,  132,  1G9,  202, 

203,  205,  207,  349.  375,  445,  408 

Eichstadt,  H.  K.  A =98 

Eliezar,  Rabbi ••   .•■•••■■   3°' 

F.llicott,C.  J 462,464,465,  466 

Elliott,  C.  B 467 

C.J 45' 

Enoch,  Book  of 475,  47° 

Ephraiin  the  Syrian   320 

Erasmus 33',  345 

Greek  Testament '47 

Erdmann,  C.  F.  D 449 

Ernesu,  J.  A 298,339.346,  353,440 

H.  F.  T.  L  489 

Erpenius '43,  '46 

Espin,  T.  E • 451 

Essays  and  Reviews ••   210,211 

Etheridge,  J.  W 02,439 

Eucherius  of  Lyons ••  323 

Eusebius 256,  32' 

Euthymius.  Zigabenus 329-  403 

Evans,  T.  S     ■•    452 

M.  J..    384 

Ewald,  Heinr. . .  46,  57,  '3°-  2°8-  209, 
2J9,  235,  250,  253,  353,  385, 
404,  43',  455,  458,  471,  472,  480 

Exell,  J.  S 452 

Expositor ^°9 

Fabricius,  J.  A     182,475 

Fairbairn,  Patrick 459,  466,  481 

Farrar,  F.  W   452,  478,  480 

Fay,  F.  R     449,45° 

Flacius,  Matthew.    333 

Flatt,C.  C 348 

Fleury,  Abbe  Claude 202 

Fox,  John    344 

Francois,  Abb^  Laurent 20a 

Franke,   H ••  344 

Franke!,  Z "61  443 

Eraser,  Donald 452 

French  Confession 4o8 

Frensdorf,  S 149.443 

Frey tag,  G.  H 434 

Friedlander,  L 477 

Friedlieb,J.H •  475 

Fritzsche,  O.  F 475 

FronmUller,  P.  F.  C 45' 

Fuerst,  Juiius '4,77,432,437,  442 

Fulkc,  Wm 142 

Fuller,  J.  M 45' 


Gabler,  J.  G 348,389 

Galileo 7 

Galilean  Confession io3 

Gandell,  R 45' 

Gardiner,  F 440,  4+9 

Gataker,  Thomas   344 

Gebhardt,  Herm 389,  488 

Geddes,  Alex 207 

Gelger,  Abr 433 

Geike.C 478 

Genesis,  Textum  Massoreticum 439 

Gerhard,  J    333 

Germar,  F.  H 348 

Gerok,  Chas ■  ■   45° 

Gesenius,  W 47,107,152,208, 

353,  43°,  432,  453 

Gess,W.  F 488 

Gieseler,  J.  C.  L  83 

GifTord,  E.  H   452 

Gillett,  E.  H    330 

Ginsberg,  CD..  107,  141,  '42,  '5°,  '52, 

302,  303,  442,  448,  457 

Girdlestone,  R.  B 55,  432 

Given,  J.J 453 

Gladstone,  W.  E 59 

Glasgow,  James  ...    ■  ■  •  467 

Gloag,P.  J 46°,  463 

Glover,  R     •  •  •  4" 

Godet,  F 225,  462,  463 

Goebel,  S •. 463 

Goodhart,  C.  A 452 

Goodwin,  John   373 

Ihomas 372 

Gouge,  Wm 188,  344,  372,  466 

Gouldman,  Henry '47 

Graetz,  H 129,  '5°,  '54,  '74,  '75, 

218,  456,  472 

Graf,  K.  H 386,  458 

Green,  R 453 

T.  S  436 

W.  H 211,431,  445 

dreenhiU,  Thomas 344 

Wm 459 

Gregory  the  Great 325,  457 

Gregory,  C.  R     M9 

Gresswell,  E.  B.  D 463 

Greve,  E.J 257 

Griesbach,  J.  J »49.  375 

Grill,J 52,     55 

Grimm,C.  L.  W 436,475 

Grosart,  A.  B ■•  221 

Grotius,Hugo 146,  345 

Guyot,  Arnold     40o 

Gwynn,  J 452 

Hacket,  H.  B.. ••  463 

Haevernick,H.  A.  C...   380,  445,  4'8,  460 

Haeenbach,  K.  C '7,78,  430 

Hahn,  G.  L -.  •  •  •   38',  384 

Halkett,  Samuel 223 

Hall,  Thomas 466 

Hamilton,  James   •.   •• 457 

Wm   82,83,92,297 

Hammond,  Henry 169,19',  345 

J         •••    452 

Hardwick,C   -. 487 

Harmony  of  the  Confessions 333 

Harper,  VV.R 20,  43' 

Hase.ll 479 

Hastings,  F *'' 


502 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


Haupt,  Erich 488 

Hausrath,  A   62,  301,  477 

Heidegger,  J.  H 113,  144,  156,  184,  200 

Heidelberi;  Catechism 13,408,  410 

Heiiirici,  C.  F._G 461,  464 

Heinsius,  Daniel. 334 

Helvetic  Confession  (II.) 108,  33a 

- — -Confessions  13 

Henderson,  E 458,  459 

Hengstenberg,  E.  W...   184,235,456, 

4S9<  472-  473.  484 

Henry,  Matthew  34Si  449 

Herder,  J .  G 169,  203,  204,  228, 

349i  37Si  445 

Heringa,  J 348 

Herle,  Chas n8 

Herodotus 233 

Hertwig,  O.  R 446 

Hervey,  A 4Sii  479 

A.C 452 

Hexapla,  English 441 

Hilary 323 

Hilgenfeld,  A 47s 

Hillel,  Rabbi 62,  301 

Hirzel,  S 453 

Hitchcock,  R.  D 429,  440 

Hitzig,  F  386,  4^3 

Hobbes,  Thos i6g,  373 

Hodge,  A.  A  161,  241 

— —Chas 464,  465 

Hofmann,  J.  C 209,  350,  351,  461,  482 

Hollazitis,  M.  D 334 

Holsten,  C 389.487,  488 

Home,  G  456 

T.  Hartwell 184,209,430 

Hort,  F.  J.  A 86,  150,  440 

Howson,  J.  S 452,  460.479,  480 

Hudson,  C.  F 442 

Huet,  P.  D 200 

Hume.  D 8r 

Hupfeld,  H 14,  77,  208,  45$ 

Huss,  John  330 

Huther,  J.  E 461 

Huxtable,  E 451 

Hyde,  Thomas 143 

Iliad 64,  294 

Immer,  A. ..     27,  70,  73,  298,  330,  388,  447 

Irenaeus    _      182,321,325 

Irish  Articles 167 

Irons,  W.  J 487 

Ismael,  Rabbi 301 

Jabuonsky,  p.  E 175 

Jackion,  J    . .  __ 452 

Jacob  ben  Chajim 139 

Jacob,  G.  A   488 

Jacobson,  W 452 

Jadaim.  Tract 130 

Jameson,  Anna 479 

\Vm 167 

Jannai,  Rabbi 174 

Jay,  Michael  de 143 

Jebb,  J 261 

Jehuda,  Rabbi i74,  '77 

Jelf,  W.  E 67,  436 

Jenkyn,Wm 467 

Jerome...     109,  129,  140,  182,  a20,  356,  329 

Jerome's  Vulgate 147 

Jerome  of  Prague 330 


Jerusalem,  J.  F.  W aoa 

Joel,  M 154 

Johanan,  Rabbi 176 

Johnson,  E 453 

G.  H.  S 451 

Jonathan  ben  Uzziel 439 

Jones,  Wm 257 

W.B 451 

Josephus,  Flavius      126,  127,  128,  130, 

180,  221,  256,  307,  472,  476 

Jost,  J.  M 473 

Journal  Soc.  Bib.  Lit.  and  Exeg..  91, 

187,  211 

JubiI3en,  Buch  der 476 

Junilius  Africanus 129,183,184,  327 

Justin  Martyr  322 

Kahle,  Alb 484 

Kaiber.  P   C 348,375 

Kalisch,  M.  M 454,  460 

Kant,  Immanuel 7,  348 

Kaulen,  Fr 443 

Kay,  W 4SI,  4S3 

Keble,  J 329 

Keil,  C.  A.  G 153,  184,224,  348 

K.  F 444,471,  476 

Keim,  Th 478 

Kennicott,  B 148,  149,  443 

Kenrick,  J 474 

Kidder.  R 169,  191 

Kihn,  Heinr 129,323,326,327,448 

King,  John 460 

Kingsbury,  T.  L 451 

Kitto,  John   430 

Klausen,  H.  N..297,  320,  322,  324,  325, 

331,  333,  334,  350,  448 

Kleinert,  Paul   444,450 

Khefoth,  Th 468 

Kling,  C.  F 450 

Knapp,  G.  C 348 

Kneucker,  J.  J. 473 

Knight,  Charles 221 

KnoDel,  A 208,  453 

Knox,  J  371 

Koenig,  F.  E 482 

Koestlin,  K.  R 3b9 

Koppe,  J.  B 203,  207,  208,  218 

Kranichfeld,  R 459 

Krehl,  L 48X 

Krug,W.T 7 

Kuenen,  A 211,376,386,391,446,  482 

Kueper 482 

Kurtz,  J.  H 483 

Laidlaw,  T 481 

Lane,  E.W 434,471 

Lang,  J 223 

Lange,  J.  P....  317,  299,  354,  359,  448, 

449,  4Sa,  45i 

Langen,  J 476,  485 

Lamer,  S 229 

Lardner,  Nath 447 

Lautwein   363 

Lechler,  G 134,  330,  450 

Lee,  Wm     453 

Leigh,  Edward 338,  339,  340,  344 

Leighton,  Robert 467 

Lenormant,  Fr 232,472,472,481 

Levita,  Elias...  107,  127,  139,  140,  141, 

X43.  ISO,  353.  44a 


INDEX  OF  BOOKS  AND  AUTHORS. 


503 


Levy,  Jacob 174,  433 

M.  A 434 

Lewin,  Thomas 480 

Lewis,  T.  Carlton 344 

Tajrler 449i  45°.  484 

Ley,  Julius 262,  278 

Lias,  J.  J 452 

Library  of  the   Fathers  of  the   Holy 

Roman  Catholic  Church 456,  461 

Liddell,  H.  G 436 

Lightfoot,  John 142,  211,  318,  344 

J.  B 452,  464,  465 

Lillie,  John 466,  467 

Lipsius,   P.  A 477 

Littledale,  R.  F 456 

Livy,  T 233 

Locke,  J 346 

Lombard,  Peter 329 

London   Ministers,  1647 120 

Lotz,  W 474 

Lowth,  Wm....   148,  151,  154,  i6q,  203, 

204,  228,  260,  261,  346,  349,  445,  458 

Lucius 128 

- — -  P.  E 476 

of  Samosata 304,  325 

Ludolphus  de  Saxonia 479 

Luecke,  F 349 

G.C.F 463 

Luenemann,  G 435,  461 

Lumby.  J.  R 93,  452,  460 

Luthardt.  C.  E 225,  463 

Luther,  M 22,  71,  81,  107,  140,  141, 

146.  165,  330,  331,  333,  365,  371,  408,  464 

Lutterbeck,  J.  A.  B 383,  486 

Lutz,  J.  L.  S 350,  358 

Luzzato.  S.  D 175,  433 

Lyford,  Wm 120,  157,  423 

Lynch,  W.  F 469 

Lyra,  Nicolas  de 329 

Macdonald,  J.  A 452 

Mackennel,  A 452 

Madden,  F.  W 471 

Makkabiier,  Biicher  der. 475 

Mansel,  H.  L 451 

Man  ton,  Th 466 

Map  of  Western  Palestine 469 

Maresius,  S 184 

Marsh,  Geo.  P 233 

Marshall,  Stephen 223 

Martin  Marprelate 223 

Martinius,  M    146 

Masius,  And 143,  169,  454 

Massora  Magna 149,  442 

McClelland,  A 355,  448 

McCosh.J 82,    83 

McCurdy,  J.  E 450 

McDonald,  J.  M 479 

Mead,  C.  M 449 

Mede,  Joseph 146,  169,  191 

Meier,  Ernst  262,  432 

M  elancthon,  P 333 

Menke,  Theo 469 

Mercer,  J ^ 146 

Merrill,  S 469 

Merx,  A 126,  433 

Messias  Judaeorum    475 

Messner.  H 381,  396 

Meyer,  H.  A.  W 350,  461 

John 340 


Meyer,  L 348 

Meyrick,  F 451,  453 

Michaelis,  J.  D     203,375,483 

Middock,  Henry.... 340 

Mill, John 148 

W.H 447 

Millijian,  Wm , 460 

Milman,  H.  H 471 

Mitchell,  A.  F 101,  167 

Mocha,  Rabbi 153 

Moll,  C.  B 450,  451 

Mombcrt,  J.  1 443 

Mommsen,  Theo 476 

Montet,  Edouard 476 

Montgomery,  J.  F 452 

Moore,  Henry 373 

More,  Henry 460 

Morinus,  1 143,  144 

Morison,  J 452,  462 

Morus,  S.F.N 298,  347 

Moulton,  W.  F 435,  460 

Movers, 'T.C 481 

Mozley,  Tr 206 

MUhlau,  F 432 

Miiller,  Julius 108 

Muir,  A.  F 453 

Murphy,  James 454 

Murray,  T.  C 218,  222,  445 

Musculus,  W 1461333 

Naegelsbach,  C.  W.  E 236,  450 

K.  F 484 

Neale.  J.  M 221,  456 

Neander,  A 209,  350,  378,  380,  381, 

382,  383,  384,  388,  389,  396,  478,  480 

Nehemiah,  Rabbi     177 

Nestle^  E 433,  439 

Nestorius 326 

Neubauer,  Ad 458,  475 

Newcommen,  M 223 

Newman,  J.  H 329 

Niemeyer.  A.  H 13 

Noeldeke,  Theo...   154,  15s,  224,227, 

238,  433.  445 

Noldius,  C 442 

Norrii.  E 435 

Nutt,J.W 474 

Oecolampadius,  J 146,  166,  333,  334 

Oecumenius 329 

Oehler,  G.  F...  350,  376,  380,  388,  395, 

396,  483 

Olshausen,  J 431,  453 

Onkelos,  Targum 303,  439 

Opitz,  Hermann 388,  488 

Oppert,  J 435 

Orelli,  C.  von 483 

Origen 109,  129,  323 

Origenis  Hexapla 147,  440 

Orr,J   4Sa 

Owen,  John. ..   134,  145,  n6,  147,  156, 

170,  184,  372,  466 

Packard,  J ' 45° 

Palmer,  E.  H 469 

Herbert 23X 

Papias   320 

Paris  Polyglot i47 

Parousia,  The 488 

Patton,  Francis  L..   104,  119,  124,  125, 

171,  341 


604 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


Paul  of  Nisibis 183,  327 

Pearson.  John 147,  4<;3 

r-r.R'ch- 147.  453 

Pellican,  K 146 

Penrice,  John 434 

Perkins,  Wm 373 

Perowne,  J.  J.  S 218,  222,  455 

Petermann,  J.  H 433,  435,  439 

Peyrenus,    1 184 

Pfleiderer,  0 388 

Phagius,  P 146 

Philippi,  F.  A 464,  488 

Phillips,  G 433 

Philo  of  Alexandria 126,  127,  128, 

130,  i8i,  221,  305,  321 

Pick,  B 450 

Pin,  L.  E.  Du 87,  88,  92,  200,  217 

Pindar 256 

Piscator,  J 146 

Planck,  G.J 186,  352 

Plato 64,  224 

Plummer,  A 452 

Pltimptre,  E.  H 4^,  456,  460 

Pococke,  Edw 143,  345,  459 

Poole,  Matthew.. ..   147,148,157,  167, 

„,       X,  345,  453 

Pope,  Wm.  B 460 

Potter,  J.  L 431 

Prake,  Charles   470 

Presbyterian  Review. ...   14,  39,  83,  85, 
88,  104,  119,  12=.  153,  161,  171,  20  f, 

209,  211,  228,  241,  329,  387,  410 

Pressel,  F 175 

Pressens^,  E.  de 452,  484 

Pretorius,  Fr 434 

Prideaux,  H 146,  200,  476 

Prout,  E.  S 452 

Pusey,  E.  B 329,  446,  458,  459 

Rainolds,  John -44,  459 

Rainy,  Robert 96 

Rambach,  J.  J 298,  344,  448 

Raphelenp,  Franz. 143 

Rashi,  Rabbi 178,  329 

Rawlinson,  G 451,432,472,473,  481 

Records  of  the  Past 474 

Redford,  R.  A 452 

Reinke,  L 484 

Renan,  Ernst 226,  457,  479,  480 

Reuchlin,  J 107,  353 

Reuss,  Edw. . .   i(,  68,  70,  77.  106,  108, 
119,  229,  249,  323,  348,  376,  382, 

386,  391,  437,  445,  446,  453,  486 

Reynolds,  John 344 

Rhambanus,  Maurus 329 

Riddle,  M.  B   ..  460 

Riehm,  Edw. . .  224,  318,  389,  401,  430, 

483.  488 

Riggenbach,  C.  J 451 

Riggs,  Elias 432 

Kitter,  Karl     470 

Rivetus,  Andrew 143,  167,  333 

Roberts,  Francis.  ..  298,  340,  ^41,  342, 

343,  344.  351.  361,  362,  430 

W 452 

Robinson,  Edw. .210,  43T,  435,  441,468,  469 

E.  G 378 

Robjohns,  H.  T 452 

Roediger,  Aemil 433 

Roensch,  H 443,  476 


Rose,  H.  T 4S1 

RosenmUlIer,  C.  F.  K 320,  454 

Rossi,  Azzari.-ih  de 141 

Row   C.  A 8 

Rowland,  A 452,  453 

Rowlands,  D 452 

Rushbrooke.  W.  G 441 

Ryland,J.E 378 

Saadia,.  Rabbi 304,  329 

Saalschtitz,  J.  L 257,471,  483 

Sabatier,  A 388,  487 

St.  Caro.  flugo  de... 329 

St.  Petersburg,  Codex 149,  152 

Salmond,  G.  D.  F 460 

Sanday ,  W log,  447 

Sappho 257 

Sayce,  A.  H 45.  48,  59,  435 

Scaliger,  J.  J 146 

Scattergood,  A 147,  453 

Schaff,  P 13,  63,  66,  69,  71,  92,  93, 

221,  226,  429,  443,  450,  460,  479 

Schindler • 146 

Schleiermacher,  F 297,  349,  350, 

,      .  ,    ^    ^  352,  373.  448 

^chmld,  C.  F..  379,  380,  388,  389,  395, 

396,  486 

Schmidt,  J.  H 436 

W.  G 389,  461,  488 

SchmoUer,  Otto 450 

Schnedermann,  G 143 

Schodde,  G.  H ^75 

Schoettgen,  Ch 260,  462 

Scholz,  A 458 

J.  M.  A 149 

Schrader,  Eb 47,  49,  262,  435,  473,  481 

Schroeder,  F.  W.  J 449,  450 

— -P 434 

Schuerer,  E 60,175,301,477 

Schultens,  A 353 

Schultz,  F.  W 449,  /r4 

Hermann 381,384,395,401,  482 

Schutze,  L 216 

Schwab,  M 485 

Sch  wegler,  A 391 

Scotch  Confession  of  1560 114,  117 

Scott,  H.  M  216 

Robert 436 

Thomas 345,  453 

Scrivener,  F.  H 86,  148,  150,  438, 

Seller,  G.  F 348 

Selden,  J 146 

Semler,  J.  S  136,  199,  347,  357 

Shairpe,  J.  C 253 

Shakespieare,  W 221 

ShammaL  Rabbi 6a 

Sharpe,  Samuel 474 

Shedd,  W.  G.  T 464 

Sibyllina,  Oracula 475 

Sieflfert,  F 461 

Siegfried,  Karl 198,  303,  305,  306, 

307.  323.  329,  448 
Simon,  Rich. .:   182, 198,  199,  201,  204,  445 

Simeon,  Rabbi 177 

Sinaiticus  Petropolitanus,  Codex.  149,  438 

Sionita,  Gabriel 142,143 

Smeaton,  George 487,  488,  489 

Smectymniius 323 

Smend,  R 453 


INDEX  OF  BOOKS  AND  AUTHORS. 


505 


Smith,  George 47.  473.  474 

James •  •  •   48° 

H    B       162,241 

H.P' 88,  387 

R.  P 433.  4SI.  452 

Wm 429.471 

\V.  Robertson..  109,  130,  154,  211, 

224,  251,  444.  445 

Socrates 64,     72 

Sophocles °4 

E.  A 436 

Spanheim,  F 20° 

Spence,  D 40o 

_— H.D.M 452 

Spener,  P.  J 343,  344 

Spiess,  Edm 402,  4«i 

Spinoza.  B • '97 

Spurgeon,C.  H 345.300,447.  455 

Spurstow,  Wm 223 

Staudlein,  C.  F •••   348 

Stanley,  A.  P 464.468,  47i 

Stark,  C.  L.W 348 

Statham.W.  M 453 

Stein,  C.W ••   348 

Stendel,  J.  C.  F 348.  370 

Sterry.  Peter 372 

Stier,k 433 

Storr,  G.  C 348 

Strabo,Walafrid 329 

Strack,  Hermann  L..   77,  127,  128,  130, 

149,  153.  178.  216,  224,  432,  439,  442 

Strauss,  i^avid 81,  377,  385,  478 

Stroud,  Wm • 479 

Struthers,  J • ^07 

Stuart,  Moses. .   210,  298,  347,  348,  437, 

457.  400,  464.  400.  407 

Supernatural  Religion 211 

Surenhusius,  G 485 

Syro-he.\apl3ris  Ambrosianus 44° 

Tati.\n 437 

Taylor,  C 127 

Francis 168,  169,  339,  344.  457 

Isaac 86,  445 

John,  of  Norwich 346,347.  353 

Thomas 466 

Terry,  M.S 449 

TertuUian 182,321,  325 

Testament,  New 44° 

Testamentum  (N).  Graece 440,  44' 

(V) 439 

Thayer,  J.  H 435.  43° 

Theile,  K.  G.W 438 

Thenius,  O 453 

Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  304.  326 

Theodoret  182,  326,  3=9 

Theophilus  of  Antioch 437 

Theophylact 329 

Thirty-nine  Articles "4.  409 

Tholuck,  A....   112,141,316,317,348, 

374.  444,  462,  4=2 

Thoma,  Alb 389.  488 

Thompson,   W 45' 

Thoms,  J.  A 441 

Thomson,  J.  R 452 

Wm.  M 460.  468 

Thucydides 64,  233 

Tiele,  C.  P 482 

Tischendorf,  Const 149,  189,  439, 

440,  441,  447,  477 


Tobit,  Book  of 47S 

Tobler,  Titus 469,  47° 

Trans.  Soc.  Bibl.  Archxology  59 

Trapp,  John 344 

Tregelles,  S.  P '50,  44° 

Trench,  R.  C 73,  436,  462,  479 

Trip.  J •     482 

Tristram,  H.  B 468,470 

Tromius,  A 442 

Tuch,  Fried 455 

Turner,  S.  H i86,  210.  35' 

Turpie.  D.  M -444 

Turretine.  J.  A i47,  347 

Francis I'S,  i44.  156 

Tychonius 323 

Tyler,  W.  S 484 

Tyndale,  W 163,332,  335 

Ui.LMANN,  C   478 

Umbreit,  F.  W.  C 458 

Urquhart,J 452 

Usher,  J 146.  167,  337,  343,  37* 

Usteri,  L 388,  487 

Van  Dale,  Anton '99 

Van  Lennep,  H.  J    47* 

Van  Oosterzee,  J.  J 384,395.396, 

450,  451,  486 

Vater,  J.S •  207 

Vaticanus,  Codex 438 

Vatke,  W 376,  386 

Vigouroux,  F 473 

Vincent,  M.  R 344,  455 

Vitringa,  C 200,  202,  467.  485 

Voetius,  G i'3.  '56 

Volck,  W 61,334.351.  433 

Volkmar,  G 475 

Von  Coeln,  Daniel 370,377 

Voltaire,  F 8i 

Voragine,  Jacobus  de 232 

Wage,  H 452 

Waehner.  A.  G 301,  47' 

Wahrmund,  A ■•  434 

Waite,  J.      •-■   452 

Walch,  J.C 163,  332 

Wallis,  John 159 

Walton,  Brian..  143,  144,  J45.  164,  184, 

438,  443 

Warburton,  Wm 483 

Warfield,  B.  B 85,161,  241 

Warren,  Charles 47° 

Watson ,  Thomas 338 

Weber,  F 300,3°'.  485 

Webster,  Wm 436 

Weiffenbach,  W 401,  487 

Weiss,  Bemhard...  195,208,225,226, 
227,  230,  384,  389,  395, 
396,  401,  447,  461,  478,  486 

Weizsaecker,  C 62 

Wellhausen,  J 376,384,386,446,  476 

Wendt,  H.  H 461 

Wenrich,  J.  G 257 

Westcott,  B.  F..  86,  150,  437,  440,  447.  45' 

and  Hort 86,  150,  440 

Westminster,  Confession  of  Faith..  .6, 
13,  25,  loi,  115,  160,  167, 

241,  297,  337.  36s,  409 

Larger  Catechism 13,25,416 

Shorter        "         13,  3*'.  4^8 

Symbols 343,  372 


506 


BIBLICAL  STUDY. 


Wetsteln,  J.  C 149 

Wetzstein,  J.  G 469 

Whately,  R 36 

Whichcote,  B in 

Whitby,  Daniel 346,  348 

Whitelaw.  T 452 

Wickes,  W 152,  443 

Wicklif,  1 330 

Wilke,C.G 436 

Wilkins,  A 474 

Wilkinson,  J.  G 473 

WiHiams,  George 470 

Wilson,  John 469 

Wilson,  Chas.  W 470 

Winer,  G.  B 69,  70,  435 

Wines,  E.  C 483 

Winterbotham,  R 452 . 

Wisdom,  Book  of. 475 

Withington,  L 457 

Witsius,  Hermann 185,  200 

Wogue,  L 142,  174,  178,  300,  301, 

303.  304,  430 

Wood,  G 452 

Woods,  J.  H 45» 

Wordsworth,  C 453 


Wright,  C.  H.  H 455,457,  459 

Wm. ....    178,  217,  224,  25s,  256, 

,„  ,       .  ,     261.  348,  433,  477 

Wuensche,  Aug ... .     62,  235,  238,  286, 

4S4,  459,  463,  484 

Xenophon 64,233 

Ximenes,  Card 106 

Young,  D 453 

Thomas 223,  441 

Zachabia,  G.  T 347,  374 

Zahn,  Theo 77,  437 

Zamora,  Alphonso  de 106 

Zeitschrift  d.  D.  M.  G 52,  258 

Zezschwitz,  C.  A.  G.  v 66,     72 

Ziegler,  L 443 

Zincke,  F.  B 474 

Zoeckler,  Otto. .  .77,  216,  217,  429,  449,  450 

Zschokke,  H 389 

Zunz,  L 62,  130,  175,  485 

Zurich  Consensus 156 

Zwingli,  U 81,  140,  146,  166,  333,  334 


The  Theory  of  Preaching, 


OR 


LECTURES     ON     HOMILETICS. 

By    Professor    AUSTIN    PHELPS,    D.D. 


One  volume,  8vo,         ^         _         _         _         _         $2. BO 

This    work,  now   offered    to    the    public,   is    the    growth   of 

more    than     thirty    years'    practical     experience     in     teaching. 

While    primarily  designed    for   professional    readers,  it  will   be 

found  to  contain  much  that  will  be  of   interest    to    thoughtful 

laymen.      The    writings    of  a   master   of    style    of    broad    and 

catholic  mind  are  always  fascinating;    in  the  present  case  the 

wealth    of    appropriate    and    pointed    illustration    renders    this 

doubly  the  case. 

CRITICAIi    NOTICES. 

"  In  the  range  of  Protestant  homiletical  literature,  we  vtrnlure  to  affirm  that  its  equal 
cannot  be  found  for  a  conscientious,  scholarly,  and  exhaustive  treatment  of  the  theory 
and  ^Jractlce  of  preachiiiff.  *  •  ♦  To  the  treatment  of  his  subject  Dr.  Phelps  brings 
su  h  qualifications  as  very  few  men  now  living  possess.  His  is  one  of  those  delicate  and 
sensitive  natures  which  are  instinctively  critical,  and  yet  full  of  what  Matthew  Arnold 
happily  calls  sweet  reasonableness.  *  *  •  'I'o  this  characteristic  ^aciousness  of 
nature  Dr.  Phelps  adds  a  style  which  is  preeminently  adapted  to  his  special  work.  It  is 
nervous,  epigrammatic,  and  racy." — The  Examiner  and  Chronicle. 

"  It  is  a  wise,  spirited,  practical  and  devout  treatise  upon  a  topic  of  the  utmost  con- 
sequence to  pastors  and  people  alike,  and  to  the  salvation  of  mankind.  It  is  elaborate 
but  not  redundant,  rich  in  the  fruits  of  experience,  yet  thoroughly  timely  and  current, 
and  it  easily  takes  the  very  first  rank  among  volumes  of  its  class. — The  Con^rega- 
tionalist. 

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Christian  Advocate, 

"The  volume  is  to  be  commended  to  young  men  as  a  superb  example  of  the  art  in 
which  it  aims  to  instruct  them." — The  Iiidepetident. 

"The  reading  of  it  is  a  mental  tonic.  The  preacher  cannot  but  feel  often  his  heart 
burning  within  him  under  its  influence.  We  could  wish  it  might  be  in  the  hands  of  every 
theological  student  and  of  every  pastor."  —  The  Watchman.  i 

"Thirty-one  years  of  experience  as  a  professor  of  homiletics  in  a  leading  American 
Theological  Seminary  by  a  man  of  jrenius,  learning  and  power,  arc  condensed  into  this 
valuable  volume."  — CArjj//rt»  Intelligencer. 

"  Our  professional  readers  wi^l  mike  a  great  mistake  if  they  suppose  this  volume  is 
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delightful  volume  for  general  reading.'" — Boston  Zion^s  Herald. 


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The  Religions  of  the  Ancient  World 

Including  Egypt,  Assyria  and  Babylonia,  Persia,  India, 
Phoenicia,  Etruria,  Greece,  Rome. 

By   GEORGE    RAWLINSON,    M.A. 


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Canon  Rawlinson's  great  learning  and  his  frequent  contribu- 
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subject  of  this  volume  with  a  breadth  of  view  and  accuracy  of 
knowledge  that  few  other  writers  can  lay  claim  to.  The  treatise 
is  not  intended  to  give  an  exhaustive  review  of  ancient  religions, 
but  to  enable  the  students  of  history  to  form  a  more  accurate 
apprehension  of  the  inner  life  of  the  ancient  world, 

"  The  historical  studies  which  have  elevated  this  author's  works  to  the 
highest  position  have  made  him  familiar  with  those  beliefs  which  once  di- 
rected the  world's  thought ;  and  he  has  done  literature  no  better  service 
than  in  this  little  volume.  .  .  .  The  book  is.  then,  to  be  accepted 
as  a  sketch,  and'as  the  most  trustworthy  sketch  in  our  language,  of  the  re- 
ligions discussed." — N.  Y.  Christian  Advocate. 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  NATIONS 

By  Professor  GEORGE  RAWLINSON,  M.A. 

One  Volume,  12mo,     With  maps,         -       -         $1.00, 

The  first  part  of  this  book,  Early  Civilizations,  discusses  the 
antiquity  of  civilization  in  Egypt  and  the  other  early  nations  of 
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World,  is  an  examination  of  the  ethnology  of  Genesis,  showing 
its  accordance  with  the  latest  results  of  modern  ethnographiczJ 
science. 

"  An  attractive  volume,  which  is  well  worthy  of  the  careful  consideration 
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Old  Faiths  in  New  Light 

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put  these  results  of  recent  scholarship  together  according  to  one  leading 
idea  in  a  modern  construction  of  old  faith.  Mr.  Smyth's  book  is  remark- 
able no  less  for  its  learning  and  wide  acquaintance  with  prevailing  modea 
of  thought,  than  for  its  fairness  and  judicial  spirit. 


CRITICAL  NOTICES. 

"The  author  is  logical  and  tht-refore  clear.  He  also  is  master  of  a  singularly 
attractive  literary  style.  Few  writers,  whose  books  come  under  our  eye,  succeed  m 
tre.-itin.T  metaphysical  and  philosophical  themes  in  a  manner  at  once  so  forcible  and  so 
interesnn'T.  We  speak  strongly  about  this  book,  because  we  think  it  exceptionally 
valuable."  It  is  just  such  a  book  as  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  all  intelligent  men  and 
women  who  have  received  an  education  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  read  intelligently 
about  such  subjects  as  are  discussed  herein,  and  the  number  of  such  persons  is  very 
much  larger  than  some  people  think."— Cou^rr^afio/talist. 

"■  We  have  before  had  occasion  to  notice  the  force  and  elegance  of  this  writer,  and 
hi<;  new  book  shows  scholarship  even  more  advanced.  *  *  *  When  we  s.iy,  with 
some  knowled'^e  of  how  much  is  undertaken  by  the  saying,  that  there  is  probably  no  book 
of  moderate  compass  which  combines  m  greater  degree  clearness  of  style  with  profundity 
of  subiect  and  of  reasoning,  we  fulfil  simple  duty  to  an  author  whose  success  is  all  the 
more  marked  and  gratifying  from  the  multitude  of  kindred  attempts  with  which  we  have 
been  flooded  from  all  sorts  of  pens."— Fresi_yieria». 

"The  hook  impresses  us  as  clear,  cogent  and  helpful,  as  vigorous  in  style  as  it  is 
honest  in  purpose,  and  calculated  to  render  valuable  service  in  showing  that  rehgion  and 
science  are  not  antagonists  but  allies,  and  that  both  lead  up  toward  the  one  God.  We 
fancy  that  a  good  many  readers  of  this  volume  will  entertain  toward  the  author  a  feeling 
of  sincere  personal  gratitude." — Boston  Journal. 

"On  the  whole,  we  do  not  know  of  a  book  which  may  better  be  commended  to 
thoushiful  persons  whose  minds  have  been  unsettled  by  objections  of  modem  ttiougnt. 
It  will  be  found  a  wholesome  work  for  every  minister  in  the  land  trt  read. 

Examiner  and.  Chronicle. 

"It  is  a  longtime  since  we  have  met  with  an  abler  or  fresher  theological  treatise 
than  OIU  Fail/is  in  New  Li?kt,by  Newman  Smyth,  an  author  who  in  his  work  on 
"Ihe  Religious  Feeling"  has  already  shown  ability  as  an  expounder  ot  Christian 
doctrine." — Independent. 


*^*For    sale    by  .all  boekselUrs,  or   sent  postpaid,    vj>on    receipt    of  price, 

^  CHART.ES    SCRIBNER'S   SONS, 

Nos.  743  AND  745  Broadway,  New  York 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  HISTORY 

According  to  the  Bible  and  the  Traditions  of  the  Oriental  Peoples.  From 
the  Creation  of  Man  to  the  Deluge.  By  Francois  Lenormant, 
Professor  of  Archoeology  at  the  Mational  Library  of  France,  etc. 
(Translated  from  the  Second  French  Edition).  With  an  introduction 
by  Francis  Brown,  Associate  Professor  in  Biblical  Philology, 
Union  Theological  Seminary. 


1  Vol.,  12mOr,  600  pages,         -  -  -        $2.50, 


"  What  should  we  see  in  the  first  chapters  of  Genesis  ?  "  writes  M.  Lenor- 
mant in  his  preface — "A  revealed  narrative,  or  a  human  tradition,  gathered 
up  for  preservation  by  inspired  writers  as  the  oldest  memory  of  their  race  ? 
This  is  the  problem  which  I  have  been  led  to  examine  by  comparing  the  nar- 
rative of  the  Bible  with  those  which  were  current  among  the  civilized  peo- 
ples of  most  ancient  origin  by  which  Israel  was  surrounded,  and  from  the 
midst  of  which  it  came." 

The  book  is  not  more  erudite  than  it  is  absorbing  in  its  interest.  It  has 
had  an  immense  influence  upon  contemporary  thought  ;  and  has  approached 
its  task  with  an  unusual  mingling  of  the  reverent  and  the  scientific  spirit. 


"  That  the  '  Oriental  Peoples  '  had  legends  on  the  Creation,  the  Fall  of  Man,  the 
Deluge,  and  other  primitive  events,  there  is  no  denying.  Nor  is  there  any  need  oi: 
denying  it,  as  this  admirable  volume  shows.  Mr.  Lenormant  is  not  only  a  believer 
in  revelation,  but  a  devout  confessor  of  what  came  by  Moses  ;  as  well  as  of  what  came 
by  Christ.  In  this  explanation^  of  Chaldean,  Babylonian,  Assyrian  and  Phenician 
tradition,  he  discloses  a  prodigality  of  thought  and  skill  allied  to  great  variety  of  pur- 
suit, and  diligent  manipulation  of  what  he  has  secured.  He  '  spoils  the  Egyptians  ' 
by  boldly  using  for  Christian  purposes  materials,  which,  if  left  unused,  might  be 
turned  against  the  credibility  of  the  Mosaic  records. 

"  From  the  mass  of  tradition  here  examined  it  would  seem  that  if  these  ancient 
legends  have  a  common  basis  of  truth,  the  first  part  of  Genesis  stands  more  generally 
related  to  the  religious  history  of  mankind,  than  if  it  is  taken  primarily  as  one  account, 
by  one  man,  to  one  people.  .  .  .  While  not  claiming  for  the  author  the 
setting  forth  of  the  absolute  truth,  nor  the  drawing  from  what  he  has  set  forth  the 
soundest  conclusions,  we  can  assure  our  readers  of  a  diminishing  fear  of  learned  un- 
belief after  the  perusal  of  this  work." — TAe  Neiu  Englander. 

"  With  reference  to  the  book  as  a  whole  it  may  be  said  :  (i).  That  nowhere  else  can 
one  obtain  the  mass  of  information  upon  this  subject  in  so  convenient  a  form;  (zj.  That 
the  investigation  is  conducted  in  a  truly  scientific  manner,  and  with  an  eminently 
Christian  spirit  ;  (3).  That  the  results,  though  very  different  from  those  in  commoa 
acceptance,  contain  much  that. is  interesting  and  to  say  the  least,  plausible  ;  (4).  That 
tha  author  while  he  seems  in  a  number  of  cases  to  be  injudicious  in  his  state- 
ments and  conclusions,  has  done  work  in  investigation  and  in  working  out  details  that 
will  be  of  service  to  all,  whether  general  readers  or  specialists.  ' — The  Htbreio 
Student. 

'  The  work  is  one  that  deserves  to  be  studied  by  all  students  of  ancient  history,  and 
in  particular  by  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  whose  office  requires  them  to  interpret  the 
Scriptures,  and  who  ought  not  to  be  ignorant  of  the  latest  and  most  interesting  con- 
tribution of  science  to  the  elucidation  to  the  sacred  volume." — New  York  Tribune, 


*^*  For  Sale  by  all  booksellers,  or  sent,  post-paid,  upon  receipt  of  price, 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS,  Publishers, 

743  AND  745  Broadway,  New  York, 


Final  Causes. 

MEMBER   OF   THE   FRENCH    ACADEMY. 

Translated /rom  the  Second  French  Edition.      With  a  Preface  by 
Robert  Flint,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


One    Vol.    8vo.,       -       -       _       Price,    $2.50 


"  Here  is  a  book  to  which  we  give  the  heartiest  welcome  and  the  study  of 
which — not  reading  merely — we  commend  to  all  who  are  seeking  to  solve  the  question 
whether  the  universe  is  the  product  of  mind  or  of  chance.  .  .  .  Perhaps  no  living 
author  has  been  more  thoroughly  trained  by  previous  studies  for  the  work  done  here 
than  Mr.  Janet;  and  no  one  is  better  fitted  for  it  by  original  g^ifts." — l/niversalist 
Quarterly, 

"  I  regard  'Janet's  Final  Causes'  as  incomparably  the  best  thing  in  litera- 
ture on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  every 
man  who  has  any  interest  in  the  present  phases  of  the  theistic  problem.  I  am  very 
glad  that  you  have  brought  out  an  edition  for  the  American  public  and  at  a  price 
that  makes  the  work  acceptable  to  ministers  and  students.  I  have  commended  it  to 
my  classes  in  the  seminary,  and  make  constant  use  of  it  in  my  instructions." — From 
a  letter  of  Professor  Francis  L.  Patton,  D.  D. 

"  I  am  delighted  that  you  have  published  the  translation  of  Janet's  '  Final 
Causes '  in  an  improved  form  and  at  a  price  which  brings  it  within  the  reach  of  many 
who  desire  to  possess  it.  It  is  in  my  opinion  the  most  suggestive  treatise  on  this  im- 
portant topic  which  is  accessible  in  our  language,  and  is  admirably  fitted  to  meet 
many  of  the  misleading  and  superficial  tendencies  of  the  philosophy  of  a  popular 
but  superficial  school." — Extract  from  a  letter  of  Noah  Porter,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
President  of  i'ale   College. 

"  The  most  powerful  argument  that  has  yet  appeared  against  the  unwar- 
ranted conclusions  which  Haeckel  and  others  would  draw  from  the  Darwinian 
Theory.  That  teleology  and  evolution  are  not  mutually  exclusive  theories,  M. 
Janet  has  demonstrated  with  a  vigor  and  keenness  that  admit  of  no  reply." — The 
Examiner. 

"  No  book  of  greater  importance  in  the  realm  of  theological  philosophy  has 
appeared  during  the  past  twenty  years  than  Paul  Janet's  '  Final  Causes.'  The 
central  idea  of  the  work  is  one  which  the  whole  course  of  scientific  discussion  has 
made  the  burning  question  of  the  day,  viz  :  That  final  causes  are  not  inconsistent 
with  physical  causation." — Independent.  * 


*^*  For  sale  by  all  booksellers,  or  sent,  post-paid,  upon  receipt  of  price,  by 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS,  Publishers, 
743  AND  745  Broadway,  New  York. 


OUTLINES  OF  PRIMITIVE  BELIEF 

among  the  Indo-European  Eaces. 

By  CHARLES  FRANCIS  KEARY,  M.A., 

of  the  British  Museutn. 


One  vol,  crown  Svo,,         -  _  _  -         $2,50, 

Mr.  Keary's  Book  is  not  simply  a  series  of  essays  in  comparative  myth- 
ology, it  is  a  history  of  the  legendary  beliefs  of  the  Indo-European  races 
drawn  from  their  language  and  literature.  Mr.  Keary  has  no  pet  theory  to 
establish  ;  he  proceeds  in  the  spirit  of  the  inquirer  after  truth  simply,  and 
his  book  is  a  rare  example  of  patient  research  and  unbiased  opinion  in  a  most 
fascinating  field  of  exploration. 

"  We  have  an  important  and  singularly  interesting  contribution  to  our  knowledge 
of  pre-historic  creeds  in  the  Outlines  of  pre-historic  Belief  amojig  the  Indo- European 
Races^  by  Mr.  C.  F.  Keary,  of  the  British  Museum.  No  contemporary  essayist  in 
the  field  of  comparative  mythology — and  we  do  not  except  Max  Miiller — has  known 
how  to  embellish  and  illumine  a  work  of  scientific  aims  and  solid  worth  with  so  much 
imaginative  power  and  literary  charm.  There  are  chapters  in  this  volume  that  are  as 
persuasive  as  a  paper  of  Matthew  Arnold's,  as  delightful  as  a  poem.  The  author  is 
not  only  a  trained  inquirer  but  he  presents  the  fruits  of  his  research  with  the  skill  and 
felicity  of  an  artist." — Neiu  York  iiun. 

"Mr.  Keary,  having  unusual  advantages  in  the  British  Museum  for  studying 
comparative  philology,  has  gone  through  all  the  authorities  concerning  Hindoo, 
Greek,  early  Norse,  modern  European,  and  other  forms  of  faith  in  their  early  stages, 
ahd  there  has  never  before  been  so  thorough  and  so  captivating  an  exposition  of  them 
as  that  given  in  this  book." — Philadelphia  Bulletin. 

THE  DAWN  OF  HISTORY. 

AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  PRE-HISTORIC  STUDY. 
Edited  by  C.  F.   KEARY,  M.A., 

OF  THE   BRITISH   MUSEUM. 


One  Volume,  12mo.,  _  _  -  $1.25. 

This  work  treats  successively  of  the  earliest  traces  of  man  in  the  re- 
mains discovered  in  caves  or  elsewhere  in  different  parts  of  Europe ;  of 
language,  its  growth,  and  the  story  it  tells  of  the  prehistoric  users  of  it ;  of 
the  races  of  mankind,  early  social  life,  the  religions,  mythologies,  and  folk- 
tales of  mankind,  and  of  the  history  of  writing.  A  list  of  authorities  is 
appended,  and  an  index  has  been  prepared  specially  for  this  edition. 


"The  book  may  be  heartily  recommended  as  probably  the  most  satisfactory 
summary  of  the  subject  that  there  is." — Nation. 

"  A  fascinating  manual,  without  a  vestige  of  the  dullness  usually  charged  against 
scientific  works.  ...  In  its  way,  the  work  is  a  model  of  what  a  popular  scientific 
work  should  be  ;  it  is  readable,  it  is  easily  understood,  and  its  style  is  simple,  yet  dig- 
nified, avoiding  equally  the  affectiqn  of  the  nursery  and  of  the  laboratory." — 

Boston  Sat.  Eve.  Gazette. 

*^(.*  For  sale  hy  all  booksellers,  or  sent,  post-paid,  upon  receipt  oj 
price,  by 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS,  Publishers, 

743  AND  745  Broadway,  New  York. 


IN  COMPUANCE  WITH  CURRENT 

COPYRIGHT  LAW 

OCKER  &  TRAPP  INC. 

AND 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL 

PRODUCED  THIS  REPLACEMENT  VOLUME 

ON  WEYERHAEUSER  COUGAR  OPAQUE  NATURAL  PAPER, 

THAT  MEETS  ANSI/NISO  STANDARDS  Z39.48-1992 

TO  REPLACE  THE  IRREPARABLY 

DETERIORATED  ORIGINAL.  1999 


1    1012  01152  6953 


